Unseen Curve
by ianna28
Summary: SEQUEL TO BURNING CURVE The Fates aren't supposed to interact with those that they watch, it's against the rules. Until they find one person who has defied all prophecies, and balance is threatened to be upturned. So, why are they trying to help Loki and Tony throw the balance of the Universe off? Because there are more powerful things out there to stop. SLASH Mpreg FrostIron AU
1. Chapter 1

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

"Oi!" Tony's eyes widened a little and there was a little giggle. "There are Several things wrong with this scene."

Tony turned his head to look at Tomas who was standing in the doorway of the lab. There was some clapping and he looked back down at the little girl sitting on the table in front of him, holding onto one of his screwdrivers in one hand. "Don't encourage your brother." She giggled and put her hands over her nose.

"I got yelled at for building a telescope when I was 13, but she gets to chill in the lab with you, While you work?" Tomas walked over to the two of them. At 22, Tomas was three inches taller than Tony, his hair dark brown and short and spiked. He was working on his Master's in Astronomy and getting ready to start a study abroad in the Canary Islands at one of the world's top Planetarium's.

"You were using tools without supervision, including a welding torch," Tony pointed at him, the little girl mirroring his movements. "You could have lost a limb. You had that coming. Now this adorable little cupcake," Tony turned and picked her up, making her squeal in his hands. "She's obviously being supervised while she waves this incredible fake screwdriver around."

"You spoil her so much," Tomas shook his head a little. He suddenly darted forward and stole the toddler from Tony's arms and took off running, cackling.

"Hey! That's mine!" Tony took off running after him. The little girl with pigtails just laughed as she was cradled in her older brothers arms as they ran.

Tomas almost stumbled through the door to Tony and Loki's floor and suddenly face planted when someone tripped him, taking the toddler from his arms at the same time. Tony ran through the door and tripped over Tomas, unable to stop before running into him.

"Hello Melli!" Sander grinned as he held onto the little girl.

She pat his cheeks and smiled. "San! San!" Sander settled her into his arms and turned away from the two on the floor, heading back for the living room. Sander had the same dark hair as Tomas, but his was longer, held back loosely with a hair tie.

"I found Melisande!" Sander announced when he walked back into the living room. Loki looked up and the little girls smile brightened when she saw him.

Tony pushed himself up first, kicking Tomas's shoulder, and headed for the living room. Sander was setting his 15 month old daughter on the floor, holding onto her hands. Tony took a breath as his eye lids fluttered suddenly, his eyes rolling up slightly. He squeezed his eyes shut for a second before opening them again. He had seen this moment before, seen it quite clearly from the time he was visited by one of the Fates.

Melisande started to walk towards Loki, laughing when Sander lifted her up in the air, kicking her legs out. "So you are the one that we can blame," Loki looked at his son, eyebrow raised. Melisande hopped slowly over to Loki and he reached out his hands to take hers before she flopped back on her butt. "Whenever we walk now, she insists that we swing her." Sander started to cackle much like his brother did a minute ago.

Tony blinked, snapping out of his mind when Tomas walked past him into the room. "I'll have you know, that I found her first, he just took the credit for it."

"She's just over a year old," Loki said he picked up his daughter into his arms. "You'll both have plenty of time to find her from where ever he Dad decides to hide her." Melisande cooed when she bumped her little nose against Loki's.

"If I can figure out how, she'll never grow up and she'll never leave the house," Tony said as he walked in, passing the twins.

"You never spoiled us like that," Tomas said, putting on a over exaggerated pout. Loki snorted loudly.

"I got both of you dogs when you were five," Tony reminded them, dropping to sit on the back of the couch.

Loki shook his head a little and hefted the girl in one arm, grabbing her favorite stuffed animal with the other arm and headed out of the living room. "Your Dad is a very special man," he told the Melisande as she took the stuffed polar bear, laying her head on Loki's shoulder. Loki wiggled his fingers, letting little green swirls pass around her face, making her smile as she became sleepy. "One day, you'll grow older, you'll meet someone and tell your Dad that you want to marry them. That will be one of the hardest days for him, because he is special." He walked into her room as she yawned. "Sleep little bear." He kissed her forehead as he put her down in her bed for a nap.

Tony glanced over when Loki walked back into the living and a shiver ran down his back. He frowned a little but shook it off. "Munchkin fall asleep already?" Loki nodded, tugging on a chunk of Tony's hair gently as he walked behind him. "Alright, that means the alcoholic content can come out."

"You don't let dad drink when Meli is awake?" Sander asked as Tony got up, heading to the kitchen.

"He limits himself," Loki told them. "He's done that since Kaia was born."

"Until each kids hits the age of 16!" Tony called out from the kitchen. They could hear the tinks of ice cubes hitting a glass. "I'm perfectly capable of limiting my alcohol intake."

"You're adorable, Dad." Tomas grinned as Tony walked back out, rolling his eyes.

"I need more alcohol when you two are around." Tony toasted them with a glass of scotch.

"I do so love it when the whole family is together," Loki commented dryly.

"When are you two going back out to Malibu?" Sander asked, trying to ignore the faces that Tomas and Tony were making at each other.

"Most likely after your brother leaves for his flight," Loki told him. "Your Dad doesn't want to spent another winter freezing, so he'll subject us all to the possible balmy weather of Malibu."

"With my luck, it'll be March, winter will be ending, and then we'll have to go to Jotunheim, and I'll end up still cold," Tony argued. "I'm banking all of my warm weather days." Loki and Sander looked at each other, internally sighing. "Just to remind you all, I am the only one not graced with the Jotun genes to tolerate extreme cold."

"Sounds like a whiny mortal thing to me." Tomas grinned, making sure that there was a couch between him and Tony. He did not anticipate Tony downing his drink in one and jumping over the couch to tackle him.


	2. Chapter 2

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

"Anthony," Loki said, exasperated. "You act like our son has never been to another country before." He watched Tony as he double checked all of Tomas's traveling papers as he said goodbye to Melisande.

"But he's going to be Living in another country this time," Tony argued. "On an island, that's technically Spain, off the coast of Africa. That's a whole other continent!"

"He's 22 years old, Tony." Loki leaned against the wall. He heard Tomas and Sander talking as they came back towards the living room and turned his head. Tony had picked up Tomas's jacket from the chair and his eyes rolled up slightly as he was hit with an image. He saw one of the company cars driving down an intersection, he saw another car rip through the intersection before slamming into the black sedan. Tony's eyes widened a little and he took a breath.

"-come back and see that your apartment has turned into a mini zoo?" Tomas had asked Sander.

"Better his apartment than ours," Loki told them. He looked back at Tony and frowned a little, noticing his expression.

"I'll remind you that I am in the Doctorate program for Veterinary Medicine," Sander pointed out. "It is my duty to know about all animals."

"That doesn't mean you have to Own every animal," Tomas argued. "You're not the modern day Noah."

"And you're no modern day Copernicus," Sander pointed at his brother. They looked at each in silence for a bit.

"There no time for that, or else Tomas will completely miss his flight." Loki talked them while walking over to Tony.

"Hey, yeah, flight, why don't we reschedule it?" Tomas and Sander turned quickly to look at Tony. "Like, by a couple of hours, or something. I mean, I have a jet that can take you over there. We can do one last family thing, dinner, type thing, or some... thing..." He looked between the three men staring at him. "Okay, or not, that's okay."

"Right, Dad, Dad of my life," Tomas walked over and put his hands on Tony's shoulders. Tony raised his eyebrow at him. "It's not like I'm disappearing forever, just for a year. You let me go off to college for almost six years-"

"I'm not having problems letting go," Tony pushed his arms off. "You're not the first kid I've happily shipped off to school, knowing that they could come back at any time to visit and or live here."

"You just suggested that he wait and then take a jet," Sander pointed out. "Kind of sounds like-"

"I'm not, having, problems." Tony pointed at Sander first, then Tomas, then Loki, for good measure. "Just saying, it wouldn't be so bad to wait a little bit. Listen, I'll be right back, just wait for me before going, okay?" He turned out of Tomas's hands and walked around, heading towards the bedrooms.

When Tony was sure he was out of ear shot he spoke to JARVIS. "Hey, J, I'm gonna need you to have the driver outside to go ahead and head home. Tell him we'll pay him the normal rate for coming out, plus some, but we don't need him anymore."

"Are you positive, sir?" JARVIS usually didn't question his creator, but the request sounded odd even to him.

"Super positive. Just, please JARVIS? I can't explain right now, it sounds too weird, even to me, but it just needs to happen." Tony ruffled his hair a little as he leaned against the wall. "They're heading down aren't they?"

"Yes sir," JARVIS confirmed. "Master Tomas and Master Loki are in the elevator with his luggage. Master Sander has volunteered to stay in case Miss Melisande wakes up from her nap." Tony let out a breath and pushed himself up, heading for the stairs. He hoped that delaying them, even just a little, would be enough time. He wasn't sure what he saw, he wasn't even positive that it was going to happen now, but he couldn't take the chance, not when his son was involved.

He jogged down the stairs, suddenly regretting not just taking another elevator, but managed to make it to the street as Tomas hailed a cab. "What happened to wait?" Tony asked, taking deep breaths to catch his breath from the stairs.

"I haven't left yet, don't worry," Tomas said, throwing him an easy smile. Tony didn't miss the look that Loki was giving hi, promising a conversation later. "You'll have to call someone though cause the company car wasn't here when we got down here."

"See, even they don't want you to leave just yet." Tomas just raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, yeah. Alright listen, have fun, do work, don't let a hurricane wipe your island out, and watch out for pirates, those are still a thing in the ocean."

"Don't worry, if I meet some pirates, I'll just find one to bring back as a future spouse." He grinned at Tony.

"Don't joke, you Would do that." Tony smiled and hugged him tightly. "Seriously though, have fun, be safe, keep in touch." Tony stepped back, his mind going a mile a minute, as Tomas hugged Loki. He missed what they said to each other, and soon saw him get into the cab, starting to drive away.

"Tony?" Loki came up next to him as he watched the cab.

"Yeah, I'll tell you in a bit, just," Tony sighed a little then turned his head to look at Loki. "I just, I have this-" Tony's breath caught when he heard the sounds of car horns. He was sure that he stopped breathing when he heard the crunch of metal on metal. He turned around and saw the cab sliding across the road, another car slammed into the middle, pushing it and turning it, before both finally coming to a stop.

Tony took off at a run before Loki could grab him, and he was sure that he had slid across the hood of a couple of cars. He got to the cab and and pulled the back passenger door open to get to Tomas. There was a moan of pain and the flutter of eyelids and Tony could feel his heart start again.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Tony's eyes looked over Tomas, trying to asses damage. There was a gash on his forehead from impact against the seat in front of him, and it looked like his leg was trapped by the seat being pushed back as well. Tony didn't see a lot of blood and felt better.

"I think my head hurts," Tomas said slowly, letting his eyes open a little.

"Yeah, it probably does," Tony nodded. They could hear sirens coming down the street and Tony bit bite the feeling of deja vu. This was different, Tomas was going to be fine, This wasn't like the car accident that took his parents, or the one that took Nathan's parents. "I'm gonna need you to stay awake, okay? You probably have a concussion, and it's pretty important that you stay awake until the ambulance gets here."

"Speaking from experience?" Tomas let a lazy smile cross over his face. "I can't get my leg out."

"That's okay, don't try right now." Tony glanced over and saw the flashing lights. "I'm gonna be right here, but I gotta let the pros get over here to get you out." Tomas nodded once and Tony got up as a couple of men went over.

Tony jumped a little and turned to see Loki behind him, putting a hand on his back. He licked his lips a little and Loki's hand started to rub the back of his neck. "You're shaking," Loki told him quietly. Tony looked at his hand and blinked seeing the visible tremor running through it. "He's going to be fine." Tony nodded, hearing the confidence in Loki's voice at the statement. He didn't trust his voice now, just leaning into Loki's hands.


	3. Chapter 3

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony had confiscated the comfy chair in the hospital room as he waited for Tomas to wake up. Loki was back home with Sander and Melisande. Tony was under oath to text them the second that it looked like Tomas was going to wake up. It had been several hours after the accident and Tony was starting to drift off, his eyes slowly closing, despite not feeling tired at all.

His eyes closed for a second and when he opened them again there was a woman standing in front of him. Tony jumped, almost falling out of the chair and blinked. "Hey!" Tony stood up quickly facing the Norn. "What's the deal with all the visions, and then letting my son get into a car accident? You came and gave me the sign that things were going to be okay. This," he pointed over to Tomas in the bed, "is not okay."

"Things will never be perfect," the woman told him, not moving when he started to rant at her. "The Fates can not upset the balance of what has been foreseen. You were shown the images, but not for you to try and break the cycle." Tony frowned at her. "No one can stop what is to happen. All but one, that is."

"So you let me see that car accident, and what? Watched me flounder around trying to save me son?" Tony growled out. "Is that a form of entertainment for you guys?"

"No one is meant to change Fate, Anthony," she told him sternly. "Had you not done anything, you would not find yourself in this hospital room."

"Excuse me?" Tony frowned. "Wait, are you trying to tell me that this is my fault?" He took a couple steps closer to her, anger starting to radiate from him.

"Had you not intervened, your son would be on his flight with merely a sprained wrist." She was giving no sympathy, but wasn't chastising Tony either. "It must be learned that Fate is nothing to be tampered with, it's nothing that we can stop when we know it's coming. You need to learn that, Anthony, and soon."

"Soon? What?" Tony frowned. "What do you mean? Why can't you just give a straight answer?" The Norn gently pushed on his chest, pushing him back until he was sitting in the chair again. "Hey, I'm not-" She leaned forward and kissed his forehead gently and his eyes closed again. When he opened then he saw Loki pulling away from his forehead and frowned. Sander was sitting on the edge of Tomas's bed, his older twin awake, and Melisande sitting on Sander's leg, babbling to her brothers. "Loki?"

"You were expecting someone different?" Loki raised an eyebrow at him. "You looked surprised." Tony hummed a little, almost annoyed. Loki frowned a little and pulled Tony up from the chair and to the corner of the room away from the kids. "Tony, what's wrong?"

"How do you know something's wrong?" Loki just looked at him. "Yeah, yeah, no need to give that look. I'm annoyed." Loki continued to stare at him. "The Norns annoy me. One Norn in particular."

"Tony, you're babbling nonsense." Loki sighed and put a hand on his forehead. Tony pushed his hand away. "Are you trying to tell me that you've been talking to the Norns?"

"Yes," Tony nodded. "Just one Norn, and she's not being nice to me. She told me that she was giving me my special letter, the I'm sorry for fucking up your life things, right? She showed me-" Tony blinked when Loki put his fingers on Tony's lips, eyes a little wide.

"A Fate came to you and showed you the future?" Tony nodded slowly.

"I saw Melisande," Tony started to explain slowly. "Sander was helping her walk, like this morning. And when I grabbed Tomas's jacket I saw the accident, only it was in the company car." Loki started to rub the bridge of his nose.

"So you of course tried to change the event." Tony nodded and Loki sighed. "You can't do that, Tony. You can't try to change something that is pre-destined, especially if you know about it."

"Yeah, well, how I was supposed to know that?" Tony huffed a little. "I'm not an expert on the laws of fate and prophecy or crap like that. Anyways, I already got lectured about trying to change it."

"You've seen a fate more than once?" Loki frowned and looked at Tony again.

"This would be the second time. They don't really get less annoying with time, let me- uh, Loki?" Tony had raised an eyebrow when Loki's hands started to glow and he let them hover just over Tony forehead and chest.

"You were touched by a Fate," Loki murmured quietly to himself. "No one has ever been touched by a fate and just walked away unchanged."

"Define unchanged?" Tony asked immediately. "I have had my fair share of being changed to last a Couple of lifetimes."

"Were you capable of predicting the future before?" Tony shook his head no. "My point stands."

"Are you telling me that when she touched me all those years ago, she gave me fate-like powers?" For his part, Tony managed to keep his voice from getting too high.

"I wish you would have told me when this happened," Loki mumbled.

"Yeah, well, I wish you would tell me what happened with Hela nine years ago," Tony shot back. He rubbed his face with one hand and let out a sigh. "I am not taking the blame for this one. This was completely unprovoked on my part."

Loki leaned forward and leaned his head against Tony's for a second. "Do you think that you can manage to not get in trouble for possibly a year?" Tony raised an eyebrow. "I'll take the next six months, but a year would be optimal."

"I like to think that I've stayed out of trouble for a while now." Loki just looked at him, still not pulling away from him. "What happened in Italy does not count."

"It completely counts," Loki argued. "Eindride and Elpis are still running interference." Tony groaned a little. "Six months isn't that long, that's the minimum I need."

"What happens in six months?" Tony asked as Loki pulled away. He could see the tiny uplift in the corner of Loki's mouth. After almost six decades together Tony was able to see when Loki was at least hiding some good news.

"In six months we're going to need to set up another room in Malibu and the Tower." Loki told him, turning around to head back to their kids. Tony snaked out and grabbed his arm. He pulled Loki back a little before his other arm wrapped around his waist, hand resting on his stomach. "I'm thinking that you need to be neutered."

"If you hadn't of just told me that you were pregnant again, I'd hit you," Tony said before kissing his neck. "I think that you need to be staying out of trouble for the next six months."

"You're usually the one getting into trouble, and then I have to come and save you." Tony snorted against his neck, rolling his eyes.

"I think I need to call Cap," Tony said as they headed back over to the hospital bed. Melisande looked over and grinned, reaching her hands up to Tony. He picked her up, blowing a raspberry on her neck, making her squeal.

"Don't taunt, it only brings trouble," Loki warned.

"What's Dad getting into this time?" Sander asked first as he and Tomas looked over at Tony.

"He's going to gloat," Loki informed them, sitting down in the chair that Tony had been sitting in earlier.

"Not my fault that I am apparently more potent that he is." Tony grinned, happily holding his youngest daughter in his arms. Tomas and Sander both made matching faces of disgust.

"You are aware that Gabriella is also expecting, correct?" Loki asked, trying not to smile when Tony's face fell.

"Their hands should still be full with the twins." The twins that Gabby and Steve had, who were turning five in the winter, Farah and Rina. They both look exactly like Steve down to his blue eyes thick blonde hair.

"Dad, are you pouting?" Sander raised an eyebrow. "You know this puts you all at the same amount of kids, right?"

"Ah, you're forgetting that Aunt Gabby and Uncle Steve have three grandkids," Tomas pointed out. Melisande look at Tony as he tried not to put and put her hands on his cheeks. He blinked and she pushed up with one hand, and pushed down with the other, moving his cheeks around. The twins started to laugh and Loki snorted, smiling softly. "You're not allowed to be unhappy when holding Melli."

"Yea!" The toddler exclaimed and giggled, moving her hands in circles on Tony's cheeks. Tony pulled his lips back to cover his teeth and turned his head to nibble on her arm. Melisande squealed and wiggled in Tony's arms, a grin on her face.

"How can I pout when I have this adorable thing in my arms." Tony said before he turned his head to nibble at her other arm.

"I've heard it before," Loki muttered, making the twins snort when they heard him.


	4. Chapter 4

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

"Is it weird?" Alex raised an eyebrow as he looked through some test results in a folder. "Being the doctor for your mother in law?"

"You want me to find it weird, don't you?" Alex flipped a page, trying not to smirk. "So that you can milk the situation for all it's worth." He glanced up at Gabby, lying down in the chair, hand on her large belly. "Well, I don't find it weird, but Chris might." Gabby grinned and Alex snorted. "I'll tell you what I do find weird, though."

"Not going to a doctor as often as I should?" Gabby answered for him as he closed the folder.

"That's it." He stood up and grabbed the wand to do an ultrasound. "But, you're in good health. You and the baby."

"One?" Gabby watched him. "There's only one in there? Because, do you see how big I am right now? You're telling me that there's only one baby in there?"

Alex lifted her shirt to get an image. "That's what I'm saying," he confirmed, looking over at the screen. "There is only one baby in there, and I can tell you, that, it is in fact," he paused as he looked at the screen, "a boy. Well that could explain why he's so big."

"Specially if he's taking after Steve," Gabby smiled as she looked over at the screen.

"We can hope that doesn't happen," Alex commented, smirking a little. "Farah and Rina already take after him, we need some Rogers' kids with good senses."

"You know how to get on her good side don't you?" Both Alex and Gabby looked over at Steve as he walked into the room. "I like to think that I have good senses." Gabby reached up and pat his cheek when he reached the bed. "It's never very comforting when you do that."

"You are an adorable man," Gabby giggled and kissed his hand. "Look, another boy. And our sons' lover isn't weirded out by this."

"We'll find out if that changes when he's there for the birth," Steve, smiling at her.

"Did you both forget that this is actually my job?" Alex asked, holding onto a folder. He had managed to get some things together as the two were talking. "That I see more babies in a year than the number of kids that you and Loki have all together?"

"But none of those babies are actually of family," Steve pointed out. "Specially when this one is going to be an in-law."

"Still not weirded out." Alex chuckled and handed the folder to Steve. "Those are copies of your test results, just in case, and a couple of pictures of the ultrasound."

"You're moving awfully fast," Gabby commented as Steve helped her sit up. "Is it that you're nervous about Mia watching the twins?"

"I'm nervous about what the three of them have done to Chris while we've been here," Alex corrected. "He's probably fallen asleep, if they haven't tied him up."

"I don't think Mia would do that," Gabby said as she stood up.

"The twins would though." Steve held onto the folder, letting Gabby's arm loop around his.

"Mia would watch them do it," Alex told them as they all walked out of the office. "As long as they weren't hurting her Dad, she would let them do it. She's a little mischief maker, don't let her adorable demeanor fool you."

"Ah, Chris must be rubbing off on her," Steve smirked a little. "As a grandfather I feel I shouldn't get the feeling of smug satisfaction that he's getting back what he gave out as a child."

"Oh, I embrace that feeling," Gabby said, smiling. "Quickly, let us see what they have done to our oldest son so that we may take pictures of it."

"Times like this I'm glad that you're my in-laws," Alex said. "It just means that I'm not on the receiving end of your mayhem." Gabby just smiled as she held onto Steve's arm. 

* * *

Elpis smiled a little when she felt cool fingers run across her forehead. She hummed a little, but didn't open her eyes. "That feels really good, please don't stop."

"You just got out of a shower, how can you be this warm already?" Eindride asked, his free hand swiping through some reports on his StarkPad. Elpis was laying next to him on their couch, her head resting against one of his legs.

"Did you forget that I'm carrying a tiny ball of fire inside of me?" Eindride snorted, smiling a little, and shook his head. "That's right, you shouldn't forget it. You also shouldn't forget to tell your parents that you got me pregnant before they show up in the city."

"I'd rather not tell them until I absolutely have to," Eindride said as he scrunched up his face. "If I tell them then, Dad especially, will come over right away. Dad has been waiting for a grandchild for years, and I'd rather not have him hovering right now."

"You know they'll be going to the mansion anytime," Elpis told him, opening one of her eyes to look at him. "Tomas and Sander will be leaving for school, and Melisande isn't in school yet so there's nothing to keep them in New York as the temperatures start to drop." She let his fingers glide down to rest on her stomach that was starting to sport a noticeable baby bump. "With your luck, because you've waited so long to tell them, they'll make the decision to send Melli to school in Malibu."

"Bite your tongue woman," Eindride looked down at her. "Keep saying horrid things like that and I won't take you to Jotunheim." Elpis pouted up at him and he laughed, leaning down to kiss her lightly. "Like you'd let me do that."

"I'm so glad I didn't have to tell you that." She grinned and started to play with his fingers.

Eindride glanced down at her before putting his tablet to the side. "Why don't we take a break and go out for dinner?"

"You just don't want to cook." Eindride grinned and Elpis laughed. "Oh fine, I guess I'll have to change into decent clothes now." 

* * *

Tony sat on the couch, his arm wrapped around a sleeping Melisande, looking out the small window of the jet. As soon as Tomas had been released from the hospital Loki had healed his leg enough that he would still be able to fly in another jet over to the Canary Islands so he could still make it to his internship. Sander had decided to ride with them back to his apartment in San Francisco instead of just teleporting back. He was sitting by Loki, also taking a nap.

"You've been awfully quiet," Loki commented as he read a book. Tony glanced over at him. "It's a little unusual."

"Just a little tired." Tony shrugged a little, running his hand through his daughters hair a little. "It's been a long couple of days, that's all. Although I am more than happy to be going back to Malibu."

"You're going to send Melisande to school there, aren't you?" Loki still hadn't looked up from his book.

"Damn straight I am." Loki snorted at his husband. "I miss Malibu sometimes you know, and I'd like at least one kid to go to school in California."

"Well, now two children will go to school in California." Tony smirked a little.

"Couldn't have planned it better myself." Tony let out a little yawn and looked back out the window. Above the clouds it wasn't as dark, but the sun still wouldn't be up when the finally landed in California. Tony also usually felt more relaxed at the mansion, it was more secluded than the Tower, and right now that's what he needed. He was still working out his whole Norn problem in his head, and feeling the familiar ocean air around the mansion would help him focus. He also couldn't wait to try and teach Melisande to start swimming.

"Don't forget that next week we have to go to Jotunheim," Loki interrupted his thoughts. Tony made a little face, scrunching up his nose. "Don't even try that. Emma told us about it last month and it's very important to her."

"It also just happens to line up with your annual visit as well," Sander mumbled sleepily from his seat. "Well timed."

"Exactly," Loki nodded. "Sometimes it feels like I might as well just pass the throne down to Emma."

"She does live there full time," Sander responded and Tony nodded. "It would almost make sense. Does she need to be married first?"

"There's no law stating that she has to, but it would look better if she was. A promise of an heir, and all that," Loki shrugged a little. "I think that perhaps after all this time though the people wouldn't mind. She works closely with Utgard-Loki, I'm sure the two of them could find a way to satisfy the people."

"Are you going with us, Sander?" Tony asked, looking back over as his still sleeping son.

"If I can find someone to watch my menagerie, again," he mumbled, turning a little and pulled his jacket around his shoulders like a blanket. "The kid who lives downstairs will be visiting family in Texas."

"The only reason we don't say we have a menagerie is because all our kids never lived with us at once." Tony grinned when Sander half-heartedly threw his hat at Tony.


	5. Chapter 5

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony was getting Melisande ready for her first Jotunheim trip, wrapping a fuzzy scarf around her neck, making her giggle as he tickled her cheeks with it. Loki was waiting for Eindride and Elpis to show up with Sander. They would leave as soon as they showed up. Tony was curious as to why Emma had set up this event, but she was happy and that's really all Tony cared about sometimes.

"Alright, little munchkin, you're all set." He pulled her favorite hat, with fox ears on top, over her head and she grinned. He took her hand and they walked carefully out of the bedroom. Tony had his warming amulet all set, but still had his jackets waiting out by Loki for when they went there. One day he might ask Loki for another warming amulet so all he had to wear were some long sleeved shirts.

"Cold?" Melisande asked, looking up at Tony as they walked.

"Yup, it's going to be cold where we're going, munchkin," Tony nodded. "But you're going to like it, just like your brothers and sisters, and your Dad."

"Melli!" Sander swooped over and picked her up and she giggled and hugged his neck. "You can't go anywhere without this little guy." Sander held up her stuffed fox and she gasped and grabbed it, wrapping it in her arms. Tony chuckled and walked over to Loki.

He handed Tony his jackets as they heard footsteps heading towards the living room. "Just in time," Tony smiled. They looked over to see Eindride and Elpis walk in, and Tony narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he looked at Elpis. She was wearing pants and a sweater dress, but it was slightly too big for her, and that was completely out of the norm for her usual style.

"We're on time, so you can't tell us that we're late," Eindride said, misinterpreting Tony's look. Tony stepped closer to Elpis and they stopped walking. Elpis glanced over at Eindride, giving him an unimpressed look as Tony circled them.

"Loki!" Tony stopped behind them and looked over at his curious husband. "Our son got her pregnant!"

"What?" Eindride turned to look at Tony.

"If you're going to cover up a pregnancy, you need to use an illusion," Loki informed him. "It was obvious when you change your clothing style. You have brought this on self, son." He looked at Elpis and gave her a smile. "My blessings upon your pregnancy."

"You're the sweetest of in-laws," she chuckled, ignoring how Tony was giving Eindride a look, silently berating him for not telling them.

"Now you just have to get married," Loki chuckled a little. "Well, shall we depart then?" Eindride nodded and quickly put some space between him and Tony, keeping his arm looped with Elpis's. "I just hope that it's not too weird that our grandchild will be a little older than its Aunt or Uncle."

"What?" Eindride's eyes widened a little as Sander chuckled at his older brother. 

* * *

"Look at how big you're getting!" Emma grinned at Melisande when the family made their way into the palace. Melisande giggled, grinning at the attention, still in Sander's arms. She was just like Tony. "And you brought Sander with you! That's my girl." Sander rolled his eyes a little.

"Anders brought a pregnant person." Tony smirked standing next to Loki. Emma whipped around to look at Eindride and Elpis.

"I'm finally going to be an Aunt!" Emma hopped over and hugged her brother and he gagged a little when she squeezed him. "It's about time!"

"Just remember that time passes differently up here," Eindride said as he pushed away from Emma, Elpis giggling next to him. "It hasn't been nearly as long down there as it has been up here." He put Elpis in front of him and looked at his older sister. "So what's the reason for the big shindig you want to throw?"

Emma suddenly grinned wide and started to hop around a little on her feet. Tony and Loki were suddenly reminded of when she was little and used to hop everywhere. "There's a big reason for it, and there's also a reason I wanted you to come up early too." Tony and Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Tony, you are looking Old." A woman's voice filtered in the room before they saw her. She looked vaguely familiar as she walked up behind Emma. She smiled at them and Tony's jaw dropped a little and Loki's eyes widened in surprise. Eindride blinked a little and tilted his head. "And yet you Still haven't cut your hair."

"Oh my god!" Eindride exclaimed, Elpis and Sander looking at him oddly. "Dani?!"

"I'm honestly surprised he caught on so fast," she stage whispered to Emma. Emma laughed and grinned.

"You Would be reborn as an ice nymph," Loki commented, smiling now. Dani smiled, leaning her head on top of Emma's. They could see the familiar look in her eyes, even if she looked different from before.

"Excuse you, I do Not look old," Tony spoke up. "I am spritely for my age."

"How about we all go somewhere else more comfortable and explain things to our confused family members." Emma suggested, motioning towards Elpis and Sander.

The small group moved through the halls, heading to the room they had designated as a family room, private from the rest of the palace. Once inside Tony had moved and hugged the younger looking Dani. Loki had kissed Emma's cheek, who couldn't seem to stop smiling.

"Seems like someone was able to pull some strings for you," Loki said to his daughter.

"You have no idea how happy I am," Emma said to him. "Anya and Kasir somehow managed to keep it a secret, only showing up after we had met again. Anya is Just like her parents, wily and sassy." Loki snorted a little.

Dani had walked over to Elpis and put out her hand. "I'm Dani, and you're surprisingly pregnant with Ander's child. How did he manage that? Did he pay you?"

"Hey!" Eindride frowned as Dani grinned.

"Dani is our daughter's partner," Loki started to explain to a confused looking Elpis and Sander. "To make a long story short, she died, when Eindride was younger, and it seems that she was reborn here on Jotunheim."

"And, excuse you, but she's with me by choice," Eindride mumbled.

Elpis chuckled as she shook Dani's hand. "He's right. I'm his personal assistant as well, and his girlfriend, and I keep him in check."

Melisande was babbling in Sander's arms and Dani looked over. "Brought a babysitter for the youngest, Loki?"

"Babysitter?" Sander frowned. "No, I'm the older brother." Dani blinked.

"Oh my god, you're one of the twins!" She looked at Emma, eyes wide. Emma chuckled and nodded. "Holy crap! You were only five the last time I saw you. Holy crap, you grew up, certainly better looking than Anders."

Sander grinned. "Oh, I like you already." Dani and Emma laughed. "This is in fact our youngest sister, Melisande. Say hi, munchkin."

Melisande waved at her, holding onto her fox with one arm. "Hiiiiii," she let the word drag out, and Dani smiled at her, making the little girl smile more.

"So, I asked you guys to come early because we wanted to tell you something before everyone else," Emma said, bring attention back to the original questions before. "Tomorrow I'm going to make the official announcement. Dani and I are engaged." Both women grinned, Dani wrapping an arm around Emma's waist.

"I hadn't expected to marry directly into a royal line, I'll be honest." Dani said through her smile.

"And of course the fact that ice nymph's, such as yourself, are natural shapeshifters," Loki added. He also saw the smirk on Dani's face. "So, should you both want children, that would be within your power now." Loki walked over and kissed Emma's forehead. "It makes me happy to see you glowing again." Emma hugged him tightly and he rested his cheek on her head, a soft smile on his face.


	6. Chapter 6

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony had his knees pressed against Melisande's hips holding her in place, one barrette in his mouth, another in his hand attempting to keep her tiara attached to her head. She wiggled around a little and Tony took the second barrette and clipped the other side of the tiara to her head. "If I have to wear one, you have to keep yours on." Tony hadn't been too impressed when he was told that there would be several functions that they would have to show up too because of the engagement.

There had been the official public announcement the day after they got there with a following public feast that turned into an all night party, one where Tony was allowed to drink, (after he put Melisande to sleep of course), but still had to keep his gold circlet on. Sometimes being King Consort was a pain, but it the circlet he wore didn't make him any more noticeable than being one of the few Midgardians in the room.

Three days later there were at the dinner for those to be considered of high import in Jotunheim, and others dignitaries from the other realms, so he wouldn't stand out as much as the past couple of days. Loki had to be the one to make the official announcement, but it was clear that everyone was happy for their Princess, paying no attention to the fact that Dani was a nymph. Tony didn't like politics on earth, he'd admit that he didn't pay attention to those on Jotunheim. As long as they weren't trying to kill him, he was fine.

"Alright, munchkin," Tony said, making sure her little tiara was stable, still wiggling between his knees. "Who do you want to go too?" He looked up and around the crowded room. It was made up mostly of the tall Jotuns, but he could see elves, other nymphs, and even some Asgardians, meandering through the room.

"Ummm," Melisande scrunched up her nose in thought then looked at Tony. "Em!"

"You want to be with Emma on her, third, special day?" The little girl nodded enthusiastically and Tony chuckled, picking her up. "Alright, let's try to find her." He put her on his shoulders and she cooed, being able to see more people, and being almost at face level with the Jotuns in the room. Tony was secretly happy that their youngest wasn't bothered in the least by some of the rough looks of the Jotun warriors. He had worried briefly that she might be scared, but she barely batted an eye at them other than to tell her family how tall they all were.

The two of them weaved through the room, sometimes drawing the gazes of others, commenting on how well-behaved the youngest of the King was in the large room, or pulling a wave from the little one.

"Em!" Melisande clapped her hands when they finally saw Emma, Dani standing by her, talking to two members of the Jotun council. "Hi," she said quietly when they walked over. The council members bowed politely at the waist to Tony and he nodded his head dramatically, tipping Melisande a little, making her giggle.

"Don't mind me, I'm just delivering a special package to the newly engaged couple." Tony smiled as Emma extended her arms to take her younger sister into her arms.

"It is happy occasion for the realm, as well as for your family," one the members said to Tony.

"We love seeing our little girl happy," Tony cooed, pinching Emma's cheeks a little, Danit trying to hide her laugh. "I'm sure we love seeing happy about as much as the Kingdom does."

"Things do run more smoothly when our monarchs are in good moods," the other member said, a smirk on her face.

"You all think your soooo funny," Emma rolled her eyes good naturedly.

Tony looked at the council, then back to his daughter, nodding with a straight face. "Yes, yes I believe we do." He chuckled and kissed cheek, kissed Dani's cheek, then blew a little raspberry on Melisande's cheek. "Be good, little bean, and maybe tonight Dad will read you two stories at bed time." Melisande put on a big grin and nodded her head. Tony smiled and excused himself from the small group, heading back for the table that he had been sitting at.

The past three days had exhausted him from meeting people, and he just wanted to sit back with a drink to sip on, waiting for an appropriate time to leave with Loki. He greeted others as he made his way through, never stopping too long to start a long conversation. Someone brushed past his arm, and as he turned to see who it was he felt his eyes flutter as a vision flashed through his mind. He saw the living room from the Malibu house, the lights out, two figures facing each other. He could tell that one of them was Loki, but he couldn't see the other man.

"-ny?" Tony blinked his eyes back open, being pulled back to the present, some hands holding onto his arms as his legs tried their best to bring hi to the ground. "Do I need to find Loki?" He was able to recognize the voice of Utgard-Loki and glanced up to see the Jotun holding onto him. Tony pulled his feet back under him, trying to catch his balance. "I don't think you'd like to be carried over to him."

"No, I don't need him," Tony said, finding his voice. "I just need to sit. It's just the past couple days catching up to me." He could see the doubt in the elder man's eyes, but was thankful that he didn't call him out on it at the moment. He helped Tony get his balance back and followed behind him back to the table.

Utgard-Loki joined Tony at the table and they sat in silence for a few moments, just watching the people in the room. "Normally, this wouldn't have the turn out it does," the Jotun said. "Before the reign of Laufey of course. Nymphs weren't generally acknowledged before on Jotunheim. Since your husband and daughter have taken over, Jotunheim has thrived. Every species on Jotunheim."

"They're certainly something special," Tony said, hands wrapped around his glass to cover up the shake. He hated visions, but this one bothered him and he wasn't sure why. "I couldn't be prouder of the family I was lucky enough to get." After a moment Utgard-Loki stood, heading back to the gathering. "So, give me about five minutes before you tell Loki?" The Jotun just smirked and headed off.

Tony was glad that he was given ten minutes before he saw Loki coming over to him. "I think perhaps we can go," he said, prompting Tony stand. "Melisande is with her siblings, and one of them will return her to her bed when she finally falls asleep." Loki offered his arm, watching Tony carefully.

"A very diplomatic excuse for wanting to keep an eye on me," Tony said as they headed back for their room. "It was just a small vision, nothing to worry about." Loki frowned at him a little. "I don't even know what it means yet, so I won't be acting on anything." Loki hummed in annoyance. "I promise this time I'll tell you before I do anything stupid, alright?"

"It had better be more than one minute before you act," Loki added and Tony just smiled a little. Loki let out a long sigh.


	7. Chapter 7

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

A month after returning from Jotunheim, Tony was happy to say that he hadn't had anymore visions, no more reason for Loki to keep an eye on him. He was unable to decipher what the vision could have meant though. He wasn't thinking about that today though. He had had to run to the labs today but was heading out to his car, knowing that Bruce would be at the mansion.

Bruce was coming back from his latest trip in India and Tony had offered a place to stay at the mansion. He knew he could lure him in the prospect of visiting with the newest Stark girl, as well. Sliding into his car Tony grinned. Today was going to be a good day.

He started the car and started to pull out of the parking garage. "Anthony Stark, a pleasure." Tony slammed on the breaks, eyes wide at the sound of a voice in the passenger seat. He looked over and saw a man sitting there, a smile on his face, long white hair, and dark eyes. Tony swore the color in his pupils moved.

"Uh, hi? Not to sound rude, but, what the hell are you doing in my car?" Tony tried not to let the fact that his heart was beating three times faster than usual show through.

"I came to see you. I would suggest you keep driving though," the man said, motioning with his hand towards the garage's exit. "You're the only one that can see me, so it might look a little odd to others to see you sitting here, talking to thin air."

Tony looked at him for a second longer before, against his better judgment, started driving again. "So, what's the reason for this surprise visit, or stranger that apparently only I can see?" It looked like it would take Tony a little longer to get home. There was no way that he was going to drive straight home with this stranger in the car. He wasn't exactly getting good vibes from the man.

"I need some information from you." Tony raised an eyebrow, keeping his eyes on the road. "I'm looking for one with a magical signature that is similar to yours. I unfortunately do not have his name, but I have reason to believe that you do."

"Interesting," Tony said slowly. "I may or may not be able to help you, I'm not sure. I'm going to need a little more information than that."

"Hmm, yes, I suppose that reasoning would sound vague to a Midgardian," the man admitted. Tony didn't try to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "I'm looking for someone with a certain magical signature. At this point I'm not sure if it's one that you share with him, or if it has simply rubbed off on you temporarily, but for these reasons I am led to believe that you know where they are."

"Hmm, that still might be a little vague," Tony said, turning onto a street that should be busy. It wasn't busy enough for him. "Recently I've been bumping shoulders with a lot of magic users from different realms."

"This man would be extremely powerful, doing things that it would seem no one else in the Universe can do." Tony felt the man lean towards him a little. "I would also suggest you stop stalling." Tony swallowed a little but didn't respond. "I'm afraid that I failed to introduce myself, perhaps if I had you might be showing the proper respect."

"Yeah, you did forget to tell me who you were." Tony sadly turned down another road to take him back to the mansion. His last hope would be that he could send some kind of mental warning to Loki when he got close enough. "I'm also going to need a very good reason as to why I would tell you who this person is, if I knew."

"Who do you think the oldest beings of the universe are?" The man asked and Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm assuming like, some of the older Gods, possibly the Fates? I mean, they always know what's going to happen." Tony shrugged a little, having never really given it a thought before. "I mean, if somehow had created them, you'd think that they'd try to control them, to make things always happen in their favor."

"You assume that the one who created them lives a mundane life like those you encounter," the man said and Tony frowned a little. He really wasn't having a good feeling now. And they were getting closer to the mansion. "I have no need for their prophecies, I am to ensure that things run smoothly. I ensure that there is not one who will upset the balance, that there is one who will not become more powerful." Tony glanced over at the man, and he could see the shark like smirk on his face. "Most call me Creator, I don't argue it because that it what I have done, and I have no given name. I really have no need for one. I suppose that the one that I've heard the most, and have some kind of predilection for is Adir."

"I'm sorry, you just went on a little speech rant, and you might have lost me." Tony knew exactly what he was saying, he was just hoping it wasn't true. "Are you trying to tell me that you created, well, like, everything?"

"Not all Midgardians are slow witted, this makes me a little happy." Now Tony knew he was in trouble. "As for the reason why you will tell who it is I'm looking for? I must ensure that no one breaks their prophecies, that there will be no one who will become more powerful than they are meant to be."

"That no one becomes more powerful than you?" Tony asked tentatively. The man didn't respond, but he could practically feel the smile the man wore. Tony suddenly had a very bad feeling he knew who Adir was looking for. Unfortunately, it was at the same time that he pulled into the driveway of the mansion.

"Well, I think I've got some news for you." Tony said, pulling up, putting the car in park slowly, and cut the engine. "I may or may not know who you're looking for. Unfortunately, I'm not at liberty to give you their name." Tony was already jumping over the door of the car, running for the house. When his body was fully facing the house he was stopped, slamming into Adir. He grabbed Tony's wrist, holding it up. Tony frowned when he felt something, some kind of power, sliding through his veins. Slowly his body stopped responding to him, legs starting to get numb.

"I was so hoping that you wouldn't say that." Adir held Tony up by his arm when his legs failed to keep his weight up. Tony started to lose all feeling in his chest, and eventually his arms, until even his eyes refused to blink. The only thing he could do was breathe. "I will be able to find this man on my own, I was just hoping that you would expedite my process." He let go of Tony's wrist and his body crumpled to the ground. Adir leaned down and pushed his eyelids closed. "Unfortunately for you, I don't care what happens to you past this point."

Tony's brain started to move a mile a minute. He couldn't access his powers, he couldn't reach out to Loki, he couldn't even make his breathing faster or try to make a noise. He was trapped in his mind, and he could only hope that Loki would be able to help him, because there was going to be a problem.


	8. Chapter 8

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Loki frowned, looking at the clock, and glanced out the window. The sun was getting lower towards the horizon and Tony still wasn't home. Bruce was with Melisande, the little girl insisting on giving the scientist a tour of the house.

"Sir?" JARVIS intoned and Loki turned from the balcony window. "My systems registered that Mr Stark's vehicle entered the premises exactly 32 minutes ago, but he has not entered the house. I have tried contacting him from the vehicle's remote access and have been unable to reach him."

"Thank you, JARVIS," Loki said even though his frown grew deeper. He headed for the front door and saw the car, then saw Tony on the ground by the car. Loki ran over to him and fell to his knees, pulling Tony's head to his legs. "Tony? Tony, I need you to answer me." Loki started to rub Tony's temples, lightly slapping his cheeks. The man didn't even flinch. "Tony, come on." He let his magic do a quick once over, probing for any wounds that might have caused his condition.

Loki closed his eyes and let his magic go a little deeper. At least he tried. He frowned and opened his eyes when his magic was rejected. That was something that Tony was unable to do, their connection as Master and Pet prevented him from doing that. Loki moved quickly, picking Tony up, his arm under Tony's knees, moving a little slower with his growing stomach. He needed to get Tony inside of the house quickly, not willing to leave either himself or Tony subject to another attack.

He seemed to be in luck when he was able to make it to their bedroom without running into Bruce or Melisande. He didn't want to worry the little girl. He extended his powers as much as he could to activate protection runes that were around the mansion. Loki thought he might have to make some new ones, unaware of how strong this new enemy might be.

Tony's chest moved evenly like he was asleep, but something was obviously wrong. Loki couldn't think of anyone in recent history who would want to attack either one of them. Their trip to Jotunheim had been peaceful, and uneventful after announcing Emma's engagement. Hela was still secluded in Helheim, and Elpis was positive that Pandora's box was still hidden.

"Dad?" Loki turned when he heard the little voice at the door. Melisande was standing with Bruce looking at them. "Daddy sweepy?"

Loki got up and walked over, picking up the little girl. "Yes he is sweetheart," Loki told her. He glanced at Bruce and the shorter man took the hint and walked into the room as Loki walked out with his daughter. "Did you show Uncle Bruce your play room?" She nodded with a smile on her face. "Would you like to invite your brother over for dinner tonight?" Loki wasn't sure if Eindride, Elpis and Sander would be in danger being so close to them in Malibu and San Francisco. "You can help Sander in the kitchen."

Melisande let out a little gasp and nodded quickly. "Yes! Pwease!" She added the second word after a short pause. Loki kissed her cheek and sat down on the couch, balancing her on his leg. He grabbed a StarkPad from the table and turned it on.

"Let's call them, and you can ask. I think they would like that." Melisande put her little hand on the pad, looking for Sander's name to call first. Loki glanced down the hall but didn't see Bruce coming out yet.

"San!" Loki glanced back over at the screen when Melisande called out his name.

"Hi Melli!" Sander grinned at her from the screen. He glanced at Loki and could see that something was off. "What's up, munchkin?"

"Dinner? Unca Bwuce here!" Loki could still feel impressed that his 15 month old daughter was getting closer to complete sentences. "Pwease? We cook?"

"How can I say no to cooking with you? I'd love to come to dinner." Melisande giggled and clapped her hands. "I'll see you in a little bit, okay?"

"Okay! Bye!" She smiled and waved before the screen went blank as the call ended. "Call Anners now?" She looked back at Loki. When he nodded she started to move through the names again on the screen, pressing little fingers to start a call with her other brother.

Eindride answered the call, Elpis next to him, sorting through some papers for him to sign, both still at the office. "Well, hello squirt." Elpis glanced at the screen and smiled at them.

"Hi, Anners. Hi Elppy." Melisande even managed to get Elpis to look away from paperwork, which not even Eindride was able to do most of the time. "Dinner? Unca Bwuce here! San cook! Pwease?" Loki could practically see Elpis gushing over how cute it was, knowing that being pregnant made it look more adorable than it should be.

"Of course we'll come over for dinner, sweetheart," Elpis answered. "We're just going to finish up some work and we'll be right over."

"Yay!" She put her hands in the air in excitement. "Tank you. Bye!" She waved before touching the screen to end the call. Melisande looked back up at Loki. "They coming! San cook!"

"Very good, darling." Loki dropped a kiss on her forehead. "You need to change your clothes now. You can't cook in your play clothes." Melisande wiggled down from Loki's lap and hurried as fast as she could back to her room to pick out some clothes. Loki got up and followed her, stopping by his bedroom door to glance inside. Bruce had just pulled the blanket over Tony's legs and headed for the door.

"I can't find anything natural that's wrong with him," Bruce told him quietly. "All of his vitals are normal, but it appears that he has no reflex reactions, and he doesn't appear to be in an REM sleep cycle. It's odd, he's not asleep, but he is. It's magical in nature, and I can't do anything about that."

Loki let out a little sigh and nodded. "Thank you. Can you make sure that Melisande manages to get changed? I need to check on him. Sander, Eindride and Elpis are on their way as well." Bruce nodded and headed for the toddler's bedroom. Loki walked into the room, shutting the door and over to Tony. Bruce had taken off his glasses and Loki pushed Tony's hair back from his face.

"Tony, I need to know what happened. I need to know if we're in danger." Loki looked at him, Tony looking peaceful, but he knew this was anything but normal. "I need to know how to help you." He let out a sigh.


	9. Chapter 9

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Elpis and Bruce were with Melisande as Eindride and Sander were in the bedroom with Loki after dinner. "The cameras didn't catch anything as he pulled in?" Sander frowned a little, glancing over at Tony as he slept, or appeared to sleep. Loki shook his head in the negative.

Eindride was looking at his tablet, a little frown on his face. "I've found him leaving the parking garage. He backs out and starts to leave, then suddenly hits the brakes." He pulled the screen up from the tablet to show in front of them, making the screen a little bigger so they could all see it. They saw Tony stop and look over towards the passenger seat before continuing a second later.

"Something definitely happened," Sander murmured. His phone went off and he glanced at it, reading a text. "Nothing's happened on Tomas's end, but he's keeping an eye out." Loki nodded, sitting next to Tony on the bed, back against the headboard, holding onto one of his hands.

"For once we don't have any enemies just waiting for us, but that leaves us completely in the dark." Eindride sighed, putting the tablet under his arm. "I called Kaia and Nathan and they're alright, nothing weird on their end."

"I'm going to pop home later to get Runa and Vigi," Sander said.

"What about your lizards, snake, and bird?" Eindride looked over at him. He'd only been over to his little brother's apartment once. Once was enough.

"They're at the clinic right now," Sander said, crossing his arms in front of him as he leaned against the dresser. "New students are coming in and I let the clinic borrow them for the students see. In return they take care of them for me for a couple of months."

"Is that legal?" Eindride raised an eyebrow.

"They're not doing tests on them," Sander said, rolling his eyes. "I wouldn't subject my pets to something horrible like that. The clinic keeps them fed, and students get to hold and touch live animals instead of just using books. My pets are well trained."

"He's an animal whisperer like Emma," Loki commented quietly. "He'd know if they were upset with it." He rubbed Tony's hand, still trying to use his magic to reach him. He was trying identify what was blocking him from reaching Tony's subconscious, it was upsetting him that he couldn't figure it out.

Tony could feel Loki's hand, he could hear them talking around him. He tried to make something happen, anything happen, but he was a prisoner in his own mind. He wanted to warn Loki about Adir. Tony couldn't fault Tony's thinking for bringing their closest kids to him though. If Tony had the limited information that Loki was working with he might have done the same thing. So far Adir was unpredictable, and he made it clear that he didn't care about the aftermath of what happened to those that got in his way.

Tony was going to slowly go insane if they didn't figure out a way to break him from whatever Adir did. He wasn't able to fall asleep, he already tried, and he could hear everything that went on around him. The worst part was that he was unable to give them any sort of hints. Tony wasn't sure if Loki would be strong enough to combat the absolute first creator of the Universe, but that didn't mean that he would stop hoping. This was Loki, and he and Loki would almost anything for each other. Including stupid stuff.

Tony mentally sighed.

* * *

The three fates were gathered around their book, watching a couple of pages in particular, the text still changing. One of the women held the book in her hands as they all watched. They heard footsteps behind them again and two women looked up, the third keeping her eyes on the book.

"You're not surprised that I'm here, Skuld," Adir said as he approached the Norns. "I suppose that's not surprising either, you are the Fate of the Future."

The woman holding the book and the other sister looked to their youngest sibling. "Do not fumble with the book, Verdandi," Skuld told her sister before turning to face Adir. "The wheel still turns, the waters still run, and life still continues in balance, despite your attempts. I will give warning, though." Adir raised an eyebrow, interested in her warning. "Should you continue down this path, the balance will be no more, and forces involved will act."

"I take your words with little warning," Adir told her moving closer until he was only a foot in front of her. "You can not make prophesies about me, they don't exist. What you see is never certain, and it could change at any time." Skuld stood tall, looking up at him slightly, her eyes hard as she watched him.

"Prophesies about you may not exist, but there can exist those that you are apart of."

Adir tilted his head a little and gave her a little smile. He reached out and pushed some of her hair over her shoulder to fall on her back. He took a step towards her and she let out a soft gasp. "I wonder if you saw this coming, and how this will upset the balance." As he took a step back his hand was pulling a glowing sword from her chest.

Verdandi went to move but Urd put her arm to stop her sister. "We can not interfere, we must protect the book." Verdandi looked at her older sister, then back at the youngest sadly.

Skuld slowly slipped to her knees and Adir took a step past her to look at the other two. He was stopped by a force and raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the golden tree behind them.

"Yggdrasil will not allow to interfere any further," Urd told their creator. "You have caused enough damage." Her voice was soft, but left little argument.

"Very well." Adir looked at them then turned around, walking past Skuld without giving her another look, quickly disappearing into the shadows. Verdandi replaced the book on its pedestal and the two ran over to their youngest sister.

"Why did you not tell us this would happen?" Verdandi asked as they knelt in front of her.

"We all know that you cannot stop what must happen," she said softly. "This was meant to happen, I have accounted for it. The balance will not be upset, not yet." She took a long breath, a pained expression passing over her features. "I have little time, and I have much to complete." Skuld looked up and gave her sister a small smile. "The wheel will still turn, the waters shall still run, and life will continue on, even without me here." 

* * *

It was the second night since Loki had found Tony. He was asleep, his back up against the headboard, hand still holding onto Tony's. A soft light shimmered in the room, next to the bed and Loki frowned a little, opening his eyes slightly.

"There isn't much time, Loki," a soft voice called to him. The glow stopped and Loki found himself staring at a Norn. "You are one that we have never been able to account for, Trickster. To this day, none of your prophecies have come true. The Realms still stand, Ragnarok has not come to pass, neither have you had any of your foretold children. And yet, balance still stands within the Universe."

Loki sat up, placing Tony's hand on the bed, turning to face Skuld. "What does this have to do with Tony?" She gave him a soft smile as she walked around the bed, closer to Tony. "You wouldn't come down here and show yourself to me if this had nothing to do with my husbands' condition. Do you know who did this to him? Do you know why?"

"Remember what I have just told you." Skuld gently waved a hand over Tony's face, her fingertips starting to glow. "That will answer one of your questions for when he awakens."

"Why did you visit him? Why did you touch him?" Loki had turned to look at her, not exactly at ease with how close she was to Tony, but he knew she wouldn't hurt him.

"I suppose there was no reason, not really," she answered honestly. "Perhaps it is a bit of a cosmic joke. To make him something that he didn't believe in." She looked up at Loki a little sadly. "I am dying." Loki's eyes widened. He didn't know it was possible for a Norn to die. "I can wake him for you, as my last action."

"That would not be my decision to make," Loki said carefully. "He would have to agree to that."

"He knows." She touched Tony's cheek gently. "Anthony has not been asleep, he has been trapped inside of his own body. He can hear everything said around him, and he can feel every touch to his body." Loki frowned a little, looking down at Tony. "Things are going to change after this, for everyone. I wish it had not had to come to this, but there was no way to prevent it." Her hand started to glow against Tony's cheek. "Remember, above all, balance must be upheld." Her body started to fade, the glow starting to cover Tony.

Loki moved over to Tony when she disappeared. After a moment he took a deep breath, his eyes shooting open. Loki leaned down, resting his forehead against Tony's, a hand resting on his neck. Tony wrapped an arm around Loki's shoulder, holding onto him tightly. Loki blinked a little, feeling something wet against his hand. He opened his eyes and saw that a couple of tears had trailed down Tony's cheek onto his hand.

"I can't lose you," Tony was saying quietly. "I can't lose you, I won't let it happen. Please don't let it happen, I need you."

"Shhh," Loki whispered, his thumb rubbing his cheek. "I'm here, I'm with you." He let Tony hang onto him, not sure of what exactly happened, but there would be time for that afterwards. They needed to ground each other first.


	10. Chapter 10

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony licked his lips as he sat on the bed, one knee pulled up, his chin resting on his knee. Loki had left to get him something to drink and something to eat. Tony knew he should eat, but he honestly wasn't feeling hungry. His mind was still reeling over what had happened.

He looked up when he saw Loki walk in, placing a tray down on the table. "Did she say why?" Tony asked Loki quietly. "Why me?"

"You heard what she was saying," Loki said, sitting down next to Tony. Tony's foot started to jiggle on the bed restlessly.

"I can't be a Fate, I can't just, take over for her." He glanced over at Loki. "She was the Fate of Future, she saw the future, she was the first to see what would happen. I can't do that for the rest of my life. I would never be able to touch anyone ever again, never be able to look at anyone."

Loki leaned over and pressed his lips gently to Tony's to stop him from talking. "She may have given you her powers, but it doesn't mean that you have to take over her exact role. If that were so then you would have gone to Yggdrasil immediately." He rubbed Tony's calf, trying to get it to stop moving. "We need to talk about what happened, and if Skuld said anything to you before you woke up."

"He's looking for you, and he wasn't happy when I wouldn't tell him who you were," Tony said, looking down at the bed.

"Who?" Loki asked, frowning. He didn't like seeing Tony so unsure, not throwing around sass and jokes.

"I guess he goes by Adir. It's complicated and yet not at the same time." Tony let out a little sigh. "This one is filling me with a lot of confidence, Lokes."

"We didn't exactly think that we would be able to handle Pandora's Box either," Loki reminded him. "And we handled that."

"And you failed to tell me that you wrangled control over pure evil spirits," Tony said shooting him a look. "That's kind of big, Loki. That very well could be one more reason why this man is looking for you." Tony leaned his back against the headboard. "She showed me that, just like she showed me everything that was supposed to happen to you. You're the only person to not follow the path set out by fate. Do you even know what that means?"

"No, I actually don't," Loki told him. "I could make a couple of guesses, but I'm not a Norn."

"Well, apparently I am now, and I do know." Tony rubbed his face and let out a breath. "Sorry, I'm getting snippy. I'm stressing, and I'm lost, and I'm a little bit scared."

"We have an upper hand though," Loki insisted.

"Not against this man," Tony shook his head. "He's like, he's God. he Created the Universe!" Loki stopped, looking at Tony. "He created everything, and if he didn't make it himself, he's responsible for it being made. He's a psycho who doesn't like when people get too powerful, because he thinks it's threatening to his power." Tony looked at Loki, a number of emotions running through his eyes. "And because you're the only one to pretty much fight fate, there's nothing to limit your powers. You write your own fate as you live it. That's Never been done before."

"Except by Adir," Loki said after a moment and Tony nodded.

"Exactly." Tony deflated a little as he breathed out. "And I would rather not see you go up against him, not when he dropped me like a blade of grass, and you being pregnant. Becoming a Norn, or whatever I am now, hasn't given me more powers, it's just given me more visions that I won't exactly get a headache from." Tony let himself slide down, his head leaning on Loki's leg. "I can't lose you, not again."

Loki ran his hand through Tony's hair gently. "You should get some actual sleep," Loki told him. "It's still late. And when morning comes Melisande is going to see that you're awake. Bruce will want to check out, and our other children will be concerned."

"Stop making sense." Tony turned a little, closing his eyes. "I'm emotionally exhausted." Tony stretched out, pulling one of Loki's pillows into his arms. "Don't do anything stupid right away, yeah? I know you."

Loki kissed Tony's head. "I'm going to take this tray back out. You get some sleep and I'll be back, I promise."

"Good." Tony kissed his leg before shuffling around to lay down the right away. Loki watched him for a second before getting up, grabbing the tray with the drink and snacks and left the room. Tony was right, he was pregnant and couldn't face this Adir, not with his magic unpredictable and weakened. He had an idea of what he could do, but he knew that tony would be upset, beyond upset. There weren't many options though.

Loki went back into the bedroom and saw Tony still holding onto his pillow. He rolled his eyes softly and walked over to his side of the bed. "Tony? Are you conscious enough to hear me?" Tony grunted a little and mumbled. "I have an idea, that you're probably not going to like-"

"You're gonna do it anyway," Tony almost slurred out, eyes still closed, almost in a deep sleep. "Don't plan on going away, do you?"

"I don't plan on it, no," Loki shook his head. "I would like to make new protection spells around the mansion, but I can't do that right now. I would like to try something that you probably won't like, but it shouldn't be long term." Tony groaned again. "I'll take that as an affirmative." Tony snorted.

"You're going to make me pregnant, aren't you?" Tony asked, turning onto his back. "Let's get it over with. I'd rather be safe than think about how weird this is going to be." Loki gave a small smile as he took one of Tony's hand, placing his other hand on Tony's stomach. Loki's hands started to glow and Tony wiggled a little, wrinkling his nose up a little. Loki took a slow breath and when he pulled his hand away from Tony's stomach it was now sporting the five month baby bump that he previously had. "This feels weird," Tony mumbled. "Go do what you have to do, I have to try and get comfortable now."

"Perhaps you'll get used to it," Loki said as he kissed Tony's cheek. "Maybe you'll offer to carry the child for the last four months for me." He smiled when Tony snorted loudly. "I'll be back, get some sleep." Loki got up, shutting the light off in the room as he went out.

The rest of the mansion was still quiet, everyone else still asleep. Loki started over by Melisande's room, putting up extra protections runes on her door, before moving to the other bedrooms where the others were currently sleeping. He wanted to do rooms separately before placing an inclusive spell around the entire building. Although he had an idea of who they were up against now, he had no idea to the personal power that this Adir held. He hated not knowing for sure.

As he entered the living room the dim lights suddenly went out. Loki raised an eyebrow. "JARVIS?" He continued up towards the windows but stopped when there was no answer. Listening closely he didn't hear the low level buzzing of the electronics in the house. The entire mansion was dead.

"This is the power that I've been looking for." Loki turned around quickly and saw a man walking towards him. He glared and watched the man stop a couple of feet in front of him, part of his body barely visible from the moonlight shining through the windows. "It took me a while to find you Loki Odinson, but it paid off."

"You must be Adir," Loki face him fully. His sense were on high alert, he felt like a dog with his hackles up, a threat in front of him.

"I see that Skuld came here in her last moments. Did she come to warn you?" Adira tilted his head in curiosity. Loki could see the arrogance of the man, could sense how the man held no fear, how he thought that he was the most powerful being and that nothing could hurt him. Loki knew that everything could die, one just had to figure out how. "Did she wake your Anthony Stark?"

"I don't think that you're here to make idle chat." Loki just wanted this man out of the mansion. He suddenly had a bad feeling that he wasn't going to be able to get back to Tony like he promised.

"You're right, I'm not." Adir took a step forward and a spell lit to Loki's fingers in defense. "I don't feel like drawing attention to this." He let out a little sigh. Loki felt the barest hint of a traveling spell and he quickly changed his own spell a split second before Adira lashed out, grabbing Loki's arm. "Shall we take this to the Void?" 

* * *

Tony turned to his side, frowning, then let out a sigh. He opened his eyes and saw the sun starting to stream through the windows. He slid his legs over the bed and padded to the bathroom a little awkwardly. Stopping for a second he looked down at his tight shirt and vaguely remember What Loki had done. "Explains the sudden need to pee. He's probably going to get a good chuckle out of this later."

After he used the bathroom he walked back into the bedroom but didn't see Loki in the bed. He pushed open the door and went down the hallway, frowning when just the low level lights were on, the automatic lights not taking over.

"Loki?" Tony called out, trying to ignore the knot in his chest. "Loki, did you mess with the power breaker by accident?" He walked into the living room, and took a breath. The air felt weird to him, almost familliar. It was the same feeling when Adir had appeared in the car next to him. "Loki, please answer me. Please don't like something stupid have happened, like I warned you about." He took a couple of breaths.

There was a sudden low level buzz that started in the living room and the lights came back to life. "I'm sorry sir, I regret to inform you that a foreign source disrupted my main power source last night," JARVIS stated.

"Where's Loki, JARVIS?" Tony swallowed thickly when his AI didn't answer right away with his location.

"I am unable to locate Mr Odinson." Tony closed his eyes and licked his lips, putting a hand to his stomach.


	11. Chapter 11

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Bruce sat on the end of his bed, staring at Tony for a moment. "Bruce, I need you to focus." Tony snapped his fingers. "Loki is gone, and I have a horrible feeling that-"

"That the creator of the Universe did it," Bruce finished. "I'm in shock, but I can still listen. He gave you the baby first?" He lifted his eyes from Tony's stomach to his eyes.

"He doesn't have full control over all of his powers when he's pregnant," Tony explained. "I thought we would have had more time before Adir came looking for him, but the man moves fast. I guess he really has no limits."

"He killed a Norn, right?" Bruce asked and Tony nodded. "I don't think he cares about collateral damage. I have to wonder though, can Loki really become as powerful as he thinks?"

Tony wrinkled his nose a little and shuffled his foot into the ground. "It's possible. I mean, from the information that I was able to glean from the Norn, he's one of the only other beings that can't have his exact future told." Tony let out a little sigh and ruffled the ends of his hair a little. "Everything that they've predicted for him, he basically spit on it and did his own thing. Unintentionally, of course, but all the same."

"That almost doesn't make sense," Bruce said, leaning his chin on his hand, elbow on his leg. "Wouldn't they have seen some of it if he was meant to be with you? You still fall under the rules of Fate, right?"

"In a way." Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Okay, this all kind of conjecture, and just info that I've gotten since, I guess, becoming a part-time Norn. But, only some of my life events have been foretold. The arc reactor? Taking that Nuke into the Void? Having kids? All foretold. Getting married to Loki? Not foretold. Fate doesn't control every little thing that happens, but my life is still a little more loose in the big book of life."

Bruce snorted a little. "Figures." Bruce watched Tony, noting that his foot was shuffling, and his fingers were tapping against the side of his leg. "How long until you mentally check-out?"

"That obvious?" Tony asked then sighed. "I don't know, honestly."

"Well, we've probably got a little bit before Melisande wakes up, will you let me do a check up on you?" Tony nodded and walked with Bruce down to the lab. "About how far along was Loki?"

"Around 24 weeks, almost into the third trimester." Bruce glanced at Tony. "Yeah, I know what to expect. I'm gonna feel it moving around, getting no sleep, back is gonna start to hurt-"

"We can see if it's a boy or a girl," Bruce threw in, and he saw Tony's smile a little.

"Thankfully, Loki's big clothes are here, so I won't have to go out and try and find something to wear." They walked into the lab and Bruce headed for the equipment to set up while Tony took a seat. "I have a feeling that I'm not going to be leaving the mansion anyway. I'm going to be focusing on this little one and my other little one upstairs, and trying to find Loki. The sooner we can get him back, the sooner he can take this back."

"Not enjoying pregnancy so far?" Tony shot him a look and Bruce motioned for him to lay back. "You could have Alex come over as well to help. He'll know more than I will."

"Give me a couple of days to actually process that I'm carrying something in my body." Tony took a breath, looking up at the ceiling. He needed to process everything that had happened, period. Bruce watched him for a second before starting the ultrasound.

* * *

Adir and Loki hit the ground, stumbling, and falling down a hill covered in snow. Loki kicked out, pushing himself to the side, trying to put some distance between him and Adir. He stopped rolling and pushed himself to his feet, spell on his hands, keeping low. He saw Adir getting up a few feet away and he started to move

Judging by the cold, they had actually landed somewhere in Jotunheim. It was much too cold for anywhere on Midgard, but he didn't know if he was anywhere close to the capital. Loki ducked and skid to the side when Adir appeared in front of him. A spell sailed over his head and he heard a laugh behind him.

"You're not actually going to get away from me." Loki grit his teeth and rolled forward in the snow. "I'm almost impressed that you were able to disrupt our location, but you won't make it." He landed in front of Loki and reached to grab the back of his shirt and his hand passed through his body. Loki was already running the other way.

"You seem to be making a lot of assumptions," Loki called out, not stopping in his run. "You don't actually know that much about me, or else you would have been more prepared." He stopped abruptly, inches away from running into Adir.

"I feel that is a very apropos statement." He smirked a little and reached out but Loki lifted his arm to smack away Adir's arm, turning on one foot to land a kick to his chest. Adir moved back out of reach of Loki's foot, but also out of reach of grabbing him as well.

"I hope you didn't think that I was just going to let you take me away from my family," Loki told him as they stood facing each other, just out of reach.

"I really don't deal in the hopes of others. Usually, what I say goes, I have that power to make it happen." Adir watched him, his body completely loose and uncaring, while Loki was coiled and ready to spring, to attack.

"No, but you must feel something, because you obviously feel threatened by me." Adir raised an eyebrow at him. "If you didn't, you wouldn't be working so hard to remove me from the picture."

"I don't like seeing that there might be a possibility that there is someone who would change everything that I have made." Loki snorted and rolled his eyes.

"You're a terrible liar, you know that right?" Loki watched him, silently working a spell to try and get him to the palace. "If I had wanted to do that, I would have done it already."

"There could still come a time," Adir started, taking a step closer. Loki took an answering step backwards. "Time flows, things happen. One day you could feel that you were wronged, something could happen to your family, and you will want to change that. With your connections to your realm of the dead, to the realm of the living, with the power that freely flows through your veins, you could make it happen." Adir tilted his head to the side, still keeping eye contact with Loki. "Do you know how untapped your potential power is?"

"If I do, then I don't care," Loki shot back. "I was content with my life as it was. A lot has already happened to me that has made me want to change it all, but I obviously never did." Loki tilted his head right back at Adir. "Are you perhaps overcompensating for something?"

"I think that maybe you have spent too much time on Midgard." A hand clapped down on Loki's shoulder from behind tightly. "You're picking up some of their foul humour. You'll forget about that soon though." Loki grit his teeth as he felt the travel spell, this time he was unable to disrupt it as Adir took them from Jotunheim.


	12. Chapter 12

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony carried Melisande in one arm to her bed for naptime, the little girl almost asleep with her head on his shoulder. He put her down in her bed and made sure that her stuffed fox was in her arms. "Dad home soon?" She asked sleepily.

Tony ran his hand through her hair and kissed her forehead, pulling the blanket over her. "Soon, munchkin." A week later and Tony still had no leads, but he wasn't about to give up. He had told Melisande that Loki was very busy being a King, and it was very important, or he would have taken them with him. He was glad that she was so young, it would take her a little while before she worked out that something was actually wrong. She didn't seem fazed when he told her that dad had left the new baby with Daddy so that she wouldn't have to miss it when her new sister was born.

Sander was teleporting back and forth from his classes, staying at the mansion instead of his apartment. Eindride and Elpis had gone back to their own home, but still stopped by to keep updated on the progress. Elpis couldn't help much until after her own child was born. Bruce was staying at the mansion, keeping Melisande occupied when Tony lost his energy, and keeping an eye on Tony's health.

Tony turned on Melisande's night light and closed her door halfway before heading down the hall to his own bedroom. He sighed and sat at the edge of the bed and rubbed his face. He wasn't actually sure how long he could keep faking a smile.

There was a dip in the bed as someone sat down next to him and he put his hands down looking over. Eir put a hand on his knee. "I won't lie, when I had a boy I didn't think that I would be here to offer him advice on being pregnant." Tony snorted lightly.

"Sometimes, when Loki was having a bad day during his pregnancy with Anders, he would make me feel what he was feeling. The morning sickness, the sore back, all that," Tony told her, hand resting on his stomach. "I'm prepared this, sadly."

"You would know if something had happened to him," she told Tony gently. "Your connection would tell you."

"I know," he nodded a little. "I haven't given up hope, not on Loki." He looked at Eir, looking as normal as could be at the moment. He wasn't sure if it was because of what was happening, or if the drastic changes in his biology and hormones was starting to work, but he leaned against her, falling into her arms when she wrapped them around him.

"You're a lucky man, to have such a close family," Eir said as she held onto him. "To have them here without question to help. You have done such an amazing job as a parent, that very fact is evident as they all stand by your side." She ran her hand through his hair. "I may not have been around, I may not have been the parent you needed, but I'm so proud of the man that you've become."

Tony wiggled his nose around, trying to hold back the tingling sensation, trying to stem the tears he felt coming. "Thank you," he said quietly. "Thank you for coming."

Eir kissed the side of his head. "Anytime you need me, whenever, just let me know. You're all my family, and I'll fight tooth and nail for any of you." Tony nodded a little into her shoulder.

There was a knock on the door and Tony sat up a little as Eir looked over. "Hey Nana," Sander smiled at her. Eir got up and walked over to Sander, wrapping him in a hug, giving Tony the time he needed to take a breath and compose himself. She knew he'd want to look strong in front of everyone else. "When did you get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago." She smiled and tugged lightly on his ponytail. "This is longer than your Dad's now, when are you going to cut it?"

Sander smiled a little. "When Dad decides to cut his hair." They both turned their head to looks at Tony who just raised an eyebrow at them.

"I'm waiting for another fifty years, or when Loki cuts his hair," Tony informed them. "People still haven't gotten too used to my longer hair, and I'm taking advantage of that."

"I think you're just making up excuses," Eir said with a sigh. She looked back at Sander who was smiling. "Valkyries don't know the meaning of patience until they have met my family." Sander's grin only widened. 

* * *

Loki took a breath as he looked around and seeing nothing. He felt his heart practically jump into his chest, could feel the beating, a little pain moving up, trying to control his breathing. Back in the Void, the one place he had never wanted to return to again.

Adir's hand on his shoulder tightened and it was just enough to bring Loki's consciousness come crashing back to his mind and he pulled away, turning to face the man. "You intrigue me." Loki frowned at him. "You know who I am, what I could do." Adir waved his hand and the nothingness around them started to change, ground appearing grey and dead, the sky matching the feeling. "You know the power that I wield, and yet you still fight."

"I'm sorry, were you waiting for me to give in?" Loki took a step back from the man. Even if he was trapped with the man, he would still keep his space. His advantage to being here was that he could also manipulate the Void, not to the degree that Adir could, but a little bit could mean the difference between getting back to Tony and giving in completely.

"Yes, honestly," the man admitted. "Others have fallen to their knees as soon as they feel my power, begging for forgiveness. When they realize none is coming, I grant them the mercy of a quick end." Adir put his hands behind his back, observing Loki's movements. "Not you though. You fight, you plan, you very much think that there is still hope for you. This intrigues me, as I've said."

"If that was supposed to make me feel flattered, it doesn't," Loki told him. Adir smiled and nodded.

"This could actually prove to be interesting. It's a game now," he let his smile widen. "I can't remember the last time I've ever had a hunt give me a challenge. Yes, this hunt shall go on."

"If it's a game, is it fair that you have the upper hand in your own realm?" Loki raised an eyebrow at him.

Adir let out a chuckle. "Are you mistaking me for someone with the same kind of honor in a hunt that you're used too? I said this could be fun, not that I wanted to give you any resounding hope."

Loki bared his teeth at him before wrapping a spell around his fingers, starting to warp the void space around him. "Then I'll not make this easy for you."

The air around him rippled and Loki disappeared. Adir smirked and nodded. "Well played little trickster. I look forward to seeing the tricks up your sleeve. I also look forward to breaking you, before destroying you completely."


	13. Chapter 13

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Loki never stayed in one area for long. He was pushing to see what the limits to his magic could be, but he needed to. He would spend an hour in one pocket of the Void before opening several pathways and sending clones down them before moving himself, tinging them with his magic. It probably wouldn't keep fooling Adir, or it might not take long for him to find a pattern, but Loki would keep it up until he was sure it didn't work.

The pocket closed behind him and he manipulated the area around him to look like his study back at the Tower in New York. If he could bring enough of the room into reality he might be able to consult some of the books to help him. He was going to have to start experimenting with magic, that much was obvious. Perhaps he would have to turn to making physical spells as well. Creating the environment he needed for the spells might be a little difficult, but he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

"You truly are an idiot, aren't you?" Loki turned quickly when he heard the female voice behind him. He watched Hela walking around the study, looking at his books. "You would attract the attention of the Creator."

"I thought you were supposed to be locked down in a special prison," Loki said, turning back to the books on the other side. He could sense that it wasn't actually her, but he was interested in how she was able to project herself to him.

"Oh, I am, don't worry about that." He could practically hear the roll of her eyes. "There will be no escaping from this, at the moment, but that doesn't stop me from coming to tell you how utterly idiotic you are."

"Yes, I heard you the first time." Loki flipped through some pages of the book, skimming through the words.

"Do you not get it?" She turned towards him. "Do you not understand the situation that your find yourself?"

"Do you have any information that can aid me, or did you just come to annoy me?" Loki looked over at her. "I have to find a way out of here, and I don't exactly have a lot of time to do so."

"You actually think that you can escape this?" Hela walked over to him. "You are truly insane. This is the Creator, Loki. He can do whatever he wants and no one can stop him!"

"So far I've seen him to be nothing but a power monger," Loki said evenly.

Hela let out a sharp laugh. "You're terrified, don't try to fool me. I'm terrified and I'm not even here. This is something that even I would give in to. An eternity trapped with your idiotic family ruling my realm is nothing compared to the eternity of tortures and pain that he could give." She looked at him carefully. "You think it was just coincidence that he brought you back to the Void? To the one place that broke you easier than I or Gauton ever could?" Hela poked his chest several times, pushing him back a little. "He knows everything about everyone. He knows their fears, their darkest moments, and he gets a sick kind of satisfaction from it. Loki Odinson, you are never going to get out of here."

Loki narrowed his eyes a little at her and turned back to his book. "If you are going to be of no use to me, then you might as well just leave."

"You are so stubborn!" She threw up her hands in exasperation. "For once in my life I'm trying to help you."

"You are trying to talk me into giving in and accepting a fate worse than death," Loki corrected.

"I'm trying to talk you into accepting a quick death!" She growled at him. "There are reasons that no one has stories about the Creator, he is invincible."

"People once thought us to be invincible as well," Loki reminded her. "Everything can be killed, it is only a matter of finding out how."

"How can you kill what was never born?" Hela asked him.

"You can kill what was created." Loki looked at her, closing the book in his hand. "He may have been responsible for creation, but he had to have been created himself." He took a couple of steps closer to her. "Skuld died bringing information to me, she gave my husband her powers, and it had to be for a reason. She must have believed that Adir was able to be defeated."

Hela looked at him, considering his words, an eyebrow raised. "One of the Fates came to you?" He nodded. "You're going to get yourself killed. If you aren't careful your actions will reverberate all the way back to your pathetic family."

"Don't you have a prison sentence to return too?" Hela snorted and turned away from him, disappearing as she walked away. Loki let out a sigh and dropped to a crouch, leaning against the bookcase.

She wasn't wrong, he was terrified. He had no idea what to do, no idea where to even start. He was floundering in the dark with no leads to take. Loki was afraid that she might be right, and that Tony and their children would bear the brunt of his actions against Adir. Loki rubbed his face and took a breath. 

* * *

"Sir, Doctor Elason has arrived." Tony made a noise, trying to push his face into his pillow.

"I'm trying to sleep," Tony mumbled when he heard the door open.

"Yeah, I hear that's a problem for pregnant people around this time," Alex said, leaning against the door frame to his room. "If you get up and let me take a look at you I might be able to get you a sleeping pill."

Tony let out a sigh before pushing himself up, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Your promises of sweet relief do little to make me feel better."

"The joys of pregnancy are apparently not doing too well with you." Alex walked over, pulling a chair over to sit in front of Tony. Tony shot him a look that made him put his hands up in surrender. "Dr Banner tells me that you're at least eating everything you need to be-"

"And then some," Tony added.

"-and taking vitamins, so that's good," Alex continued. "Good news is you're going into the third and final tri-mester-"

"The prefix of tri kind of implies that." Alex looked at Tony, raising an unimpressed eyebrow. "Sorry, I've been extra snippy lately. A lack of sleep will do that."

"I'm sure contending with a 16 month old isn't doing any miracles for your energy as well." Alex reaching into his bag and pulled out a couple of things.

"I'm lucky that Bruce and Sander are here to help with her," Tony told him. He let Alex start to take his blood pressure.

"We should probably come up with a plan," Alex said and now Tony raised an eyebrow at him. "A backup plan in case Loki isn't back in the next 12 weeks."

"He had better be back," Tony stated. "I have no intentions of actually giving birth, mostly because I do not have the ability that he does to give a natural birth."

"Which is why I suggest coming up with a plan," Alex reiterated. "You'll obviously have to do a cesarean."

"Uhn, cutting me open?" Tony looked at him, both eyebrows raised now. "Last time someone did that, I ended up hooked to a car battery and this thing." Tony tapped the arc reactor. He had been monitoring the shrapnel and the arc reactor's output.

"And how else do you expect to get this fast growing little girl out of you?" Alex pulled out his notebook, making notes of his vital signs. "Tony, I've done a couple hundred of them, it'll be like clockwork."

Tony groaned and let himself drop back onto the bed, heading bouncing on the pillow. "Never again."


	14. Chapter 14

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony was on his back on the couch, watching his 17 month old daughter curiously. Her little tongue was sticking out of her lips a little and she was concentrating heavily. Concentrating on his stomach with her ear pressed to it. Every so often she would make a squeak when the baby would push her foot up. Every so often she would talk quietly, putting her lips up against Tony's stomach, then put her ear back down.

"Hey munchkin? Whatcha doin?" Tony had let her stay there for the past half hour because it gave him time to get off of his feet, and it kept her occupied.

"Talking to her," Melisande said simply. "She's telling me her name." Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Is she now? Is it a pretty name?" Melisande nodded and smiled. "Are you going to tell me what she wants her name to be?" Melisande nodded again, but didn't say anything for a couple of minutes.

She sat up and looked at Tony with the most serious look she could summon. "She said that she wants to be named Aurora Keyri. And she wants to be called Key, like how Sander calls me Melli." Tony noted that Sander and Eir must have been working with Melisande on her speech.

"Why does she want be called Key?" Tony ran his hand through her growing hair as she put her ear back to his stomach.

"Cause I told her you call Dad Key sometimes." Tony blinked a little at the reasoning. "I tell her about Dad, so she'll know him when he comes back." Tony swallowed and bit his lip a little.

Loki huffed out a breath and threw a cup at the image that was in front of him, but it didn't go away. Every time that Loki thought he was gaining some ground in his spells, in coming up with some shadow of a plan, Adir would threw a cog in the gears. This time he wanted to make sure that Loki saw what was happening with his family.

"I see that you're also messing with the time flow," Loki muttered under his breath. His daughter was growing quickly, getting taller, getting smarter. Tony looked only a few weeks from being due, but Loki knew that he hadn't been gone for two months yet.

"Shall I show you what else you're missing?" Adir's voices crackled through the air. Loki grit his teeth, but didn't worry yet. If he wasn't seeing Adir it meant that he hadn't found him yet. He still need to collect some ingredients from his old rooms on Asgard for his spells.

"You can show me the secret to silencing you," Loki retaliated. He carefully wrapped some of his mixing bowls in some soft leathers before placing them in a bag. He'd need to find a place to gather some herbs after this. Adir let out a chuckle and Loki sighed when he heard the soft crackle of another scene playing out behind him.

"I'm almost surprised that Alex isn't here for this one." Loki couldn't help but turn his head to look when he heard Sander's voice.

Tony glanced over at Sander, Melisande asleep and tucked into his side as they sat on a big couch. "I don't think you're brother wants his cousin's partner delivering his baby. Anders and Chris have a special relationship, and there would be endless teasing and crude jokes about Alex and Elpis, and the such." Sander snorted.

"That doesn't surprise me in the least. At least they chose a hospital with a damn nice waiting room." Sander stretched his legs a little and let out a yawn. "I still think that three am is too early to have a baby."

"It usually is," Tony nodded. "With any luck I'll be able to make that nice appointment set for the morning." Sander looked over at him. "I know, we don't usually have a lot of luck in this family."

The door to the waiting room started to open and Sander sat up first, Tony moving a little more slowly with Melisande in his arms. A foot slid through and the door slowly opened, Eindride sliding through, a smile on his face and a bundle of blankets in his arms.

"Let's see, let's see," Sander bounced a little on the couch. Tony pushed Sander's leg a little and started to slide Melisande over to him. He let out a little sigh, smiling, and took his little sister. He knew that his Dad would want to be the first one to hold him.

"His name is Cyrus," Eindride said as he walked over to them. Tony sat up as straight as he could and took the newborn from his arms. "I have delivered a grandson to you."

"It's about time," Tony said softly as he looked down at the little boy. "Let's hope he takes after Elpis at least." He let his thumb gently rub the little cheek, and saw little eyes open. "Damn, you're gonna be a good looking kid, you know that? And when you realize that you can thank your Dad, but he doesn't get all the credit. You need to come to me and your Grandfather and thank us. We made your Dad look good, okay? So we should really get most of the credit. Some credit goes to your mom, cause she's pretty too, but your grandparents on your dad's side? Yeah, we get the credit." He gave Cyrus a small smile. "Sorry to say you can't thank us just yet, we're still waiting for your Grandfather to get back, but don't worry, he's coming."

Loki caught himself staring, shaking his head a little when his vision became a little blurry. Their first grandchild, a healthy baby boy.

"And you missed it," Adir's voice sounded again. Loki growled loudly and stood up straight. "I'm not sure if I should commend them for thinking that you're coming back, or find it exceedingly sad for life forms such as themselves."

Loki let out a yell as his hands started to glow. The ground shook as a loud rumble sounded through the area. Loki clenched his fists tightly and bursts of green power shot up through the ground into the ceiling. The image disappeared and Loki could no longer feel the lingering magic of Adir searching for him.

He breathed deeply, letting the rush of anger course out of him. He slumped down into the chair that was next to him and closed his eyes. He was going to kill Adir, there was no other option.


	15. Chapter 15

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Loki took near silent breaths. He was lingering too long, he knew, but he needed to know the feeling. He needed to know what it felt like the exact moment that Adir's magic would find him. He had been there for a week, by his judgment, and Loki had put together small things that would hopefully lead him to one big discovery.

There was a faint 'pop' behind Loki's eyes when he felt it. Adir was there. There wasn't even a second between when he was located and when Adir showed up. Loki didn't think there would be a big gap, but he had hoped for more.

"Sometimes, I fear that our game might get boring," Adir's voice sounded through the wooded area that Loki was in. "That it might become rather trivial finding you, then watching you gallivant off to another place. But, for the time being, I find the locations that you bring me too very interesting, maybe even a little enlightening."

"Do you care though?" Loki asked.

"Not really, no, but I do like interesting things. It's probably why you're still alive." Loki's hand gripped a small vial with a potion inside. "I could possibly use that information for something later. Or use the information for someone else." Loki grit his teeth

"This is all fine and dandy, but one might think that you're a little bit of a coward for not showing your face." Loki kept his back to a tree, looking around. If Adir was going to show up, he wanted to be able to see him coming.

"Could the same not be said for you?" Adira questioned, letting his voice come from just one direction, moving closer towards Loki's location.

"No, for I am not the one doing the hunting. Why would I show myself to who I want to hide from?" Loki turned his head and stopped when he saw Adir in front of him smirking. He'd never admit that for a few moments his heart had stopped pounding in his chest from the sudden shock.

"I'm not sure, why would you?" Adir leaned in and Loki slapped his hand on Adir's chest, the vial pressed between his palm and Adir's chest. He raised an eyebrow at the feel of the feel of the little vial. "This could prove to be interesting. What exactly is this supposed to do?"

"Honestly?" Loki said after he was sure that his voice would sound confident enough. "I'm not sure. I was experimenting, so this could very turn out interesting, and bad, for both of us." Loki pressed down on the heel of his hand threatening to break the vial. "Are you willing to find out what could happen?"

"I'm interested in finding out what you think could actually happen," Adir answered, pushing into the vial a little more. "Impress me sorcerer."

Loki swallowed before leaning into the vial, crushing it between his hand and Adir's chest, the liquid breaking free. 

* * *

"This is starting to feel very familiar," Tony said when he heard someone walking into the living room. He was looking down at his tablet, going over the last minute chest list for everything that was needed for the mansion when the new addition would arrive. He had no plans on going back to the Tower in New York anytime soon, so everything for that residence could wait. "I don't need someone coming to check on me every time that Loki goes missing."

"Well, what if we just came to point and laugh at your comically large stomach?" Tony glanced up and over at Dani who stood leaning against the back of the couch. She was dressed casually in what appeared to be Jotun garments, so she came directly from the icy realm. "And by we, I mean me."

"You came alone without my dearest daughter?" Tony asked as he moved a little down the couch, giving Dani some room to sit on the couch. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he could take up the whole couch, and not care if anyone else had any space to sit.

"She's stuck in some meetings and the like," Dani said, shrugging as she explained. "The life of being in charge of an entire realm."

"You should probably start learning that stuff, you'll be helping soon," Tony told her as he shut his tablet off.

'It would probably be sooner if they knew that Loki was still missing," Dani told him. "Somehow we've managed to keep it secret that we can't find him, but we're not sure how long we can keep the rumors away."

"They can listen to all the rumors that they want," Tony said. "Until they've gotten the official word from me on his status, it doesn't mean a damn thing. I still hold the title of King Consort there, and-"

"It'll mean jack shit," Dani interrupted him. "You know I'm not trying to be rude, but King Consort doesn't hold even as much weight as one of your other children. If they hear that Loki has been missing, and he appears to be missing for more than a year, they'll declare him as deceased in where the throne is concerned. At that point they'll have an official coronation for Emma to take the throne, and then we'll be having a shot gun wedding."

Tony groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose a little. "And when he comes back?" Dani didn't say anything fast enough for him and he looked at her. "He Will come back, I refuse to use-"

"Tony, I didn't say that he wouldn't be coming back," Dani told him.

"You also didn't say that he would," Tony snapped back before letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I've just been on edge lately. I haven't been getting much sleep, and with this baby on the way I'm trying not to get stressed, and it's just hard." Dani gave him a soft smile and pat his cheek with one hand. "It's just hard right now."

"I know it is, trust me, I know it is. I died, remember?" Tony let out a little snort and Dani leaned her head on his shoulder gently. "He'll come back, I'm sure of it. It just might not happen right away, but we'll find him." Tony nodded as he leaned his head on top of hers. "We're here for you Tony, don't you forget that."

"I'm glad that you were reborn," Tony told her once again. "Emma was very happy with you, and it makes my heart feel lighter to see her smile again."

"Please, keep stroking my ego." She grinned and Tony pushed her shoulder gently.


	16. Chapter 16

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Loki blinked his eyes rapidly, color and trees coming back into view, the ringing in his ears starting to wear off. He didn't remember what happened to cause him to be on his back on the ground after breaking the vial. He turned slightly and moved to push himself up before hissing in pain, the pain striking up his arm from his hand, making him stumble back down flat on the ground.

He took a deep breath and moved, cautiously using his other arm, before lifting his hand to look at it. Loki's face scrunched in displeasure when he the back of his hand was red with irritation. The look dropped of his face when he turned his hand and saw that the skin had actually been eaten away by what could have been an acid. He could actually start to see some of the bones of his hand and swallowed thickly.

Looking over he saw Adir lying on his back on the ground and started to push himself to his feet, trying not to move his hand and most of his arm. Loki put his foot out and hooked it around the strap of his bag that had been behind a tree and pulled it over to his slowly and quietly. He pulled it up and slung it over his shoulder, after pulling out another vial of the toxic spell. Tempting fate, Loki slowly started to edge over to Adir. The man was still breathing, but he seemed as unconscious as Loki had recently been.

Loki tried not to smirk when he saw the clothes and the skin had been destroyed on Adir's chest. He could see blood, and muscle and flesh. He knew that Adir wasn't dead, but the spell had worked much better than he thought it could. He hadn't anticipated injuring himself, but he was able to injure Adir, something the Creator had claimed could never happen. Apparently he wasn't as Immortal as he claimed to be.

Moving after a second of staring, Loki knew that it was time to get out. he need to move on to a different tear in the void, he needed to take care of his hand and plan. This was a step that he hadn't seen, but it helped. As Loki worked a spell in his hand to move on he allowed himself a small thought of hope. Perhaps he could prove to Adir that he wasn't one to be messed with, and they could come to some kind of agreement to let Loki go home, and neither one would every think of each other again.

He snorted softly as he disappeared. Like Loki would let Adir live.

The residue of Loki's spell as he disappeared from the Void swept over Adir, causing him to start to stir. He groaned and opened his eyes, assessing what had happened. Growling softly he slowly sat up, frowning when he felt pain. Adir glanced down and saw the wound to his chest and raised his eyebrows.

"Well, well, little sorcerer, it seems you have surprised us all." He pushed himself up, running a hand slowly across his chest, starting to heal his body. "It seems that I shall have to step up our game. I'm happy that neither one of us is above playing dirty, though." 

* * *

"What are you doing up so late?" Tony asked his youngest son as he walked into the living room. Sander was folded up in the large armchairs, a couple of books open on the arm and a notebook in his lap.

"Finishing some early homework," Sander said through a yawn. He glanced at the clock. 2:17am. "It's not that late."

"Maybe not for college kids," Tony snorted a little as he sat down on the couch, bring his feet up so his back was leaning against the arm of the couch. The TV was on, volume low, and Sander was writing by the light of the TV and the lamp behind his chair.

"And apparently for pregnant people," Sander added. "Baby girl kicking again?"

"She's very restless tonight," Tony nodded. "I wish she would settle down, just for another two days, then she can kick all she wants in her crib."

"And then you still won't be able to sleep because you'll be changing diapers and making bottles." Sander stretched his arms above his head then closed his books and pushed them onto the coffee table.

"You'll be helping, little boy," Tony pointed at him as he yawned a little. He put a hand on his stomach and tipped his head back to rest on the couch. "I'm gonna try and take a nap." He heard Sander say something but had already tuned out all sound, hoping to catch a couple of hours of sleep.

Loki was sitting at a table, hand submerged into a bowl of water, softly cursing in pain. There were a couple of dirty, wet, cloths sitting on the table beside him, and a long piece of leather laid out with some kind of salve on it. Tony frowned a little when he saw him and turned around in a circle, trying to figure out where he was. It seemed he was in a small two room house, nothing he had ever seen before.

Tony raised an eyebrow when he found he was able to move without the general heaviness he had become used to. Looking down he saw that he was no longer pregnant, but back to his normal size. "Must be a wish fulfillment dream," Tony muttered.

Loki quickly turned from his seat the look at Tony and frowned. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Ouch, rejected in a dream, that hurts." Tony put a hand to his chest then looked around the small house, walking around the room they were in.

"You've never seen this place before, it was far before your time," Loki continued. "There would be no reason for you to show up here."

Loki took his hand out of the water and Tony made a face. "Holy shit, what the hell happened to your hand?" He walked over then blinked when he touched Loki's arm. The arm felt real and warm, and tingled just right with their connection. They both stared at each other for a second while the same thought flitted across their minds.

This was real.

"How-" Loki started and licked his lips. "It- You-"

"I just went to sleep and I found myself here." Tony caught sight of the leather and grabbed it, gently laying it down across Loki's damaged palm. "What happened?"

"I made a spell, and I wasn't sure what it would do." Loki grit his teeth and hissed softly as Tony wrapped the leather around his hand. "It didn't go over well, and it will most likely take several months of healing before I will be able to gain half the use of it again. I can happily say that I caused ore damage to Adir." Loki let his other hand run through Tony's hair. "I still don't understand how you're here."

"I'm not entirely convinced I am," Tony said, trying not to frown. "I mean, I went to sleep with a very anxious baby inside of me, and now I'm here, looking pretty normal." He secured the leather then looked at Loki, leaning slightly into his hand. "We're looking all over for you."

"I know," Loki said softly. "The time flow is different here, it moves slower here."

"Where is here? When I get back we can-" Loki stopped him by kissing him gently.

"It's the Void." Tony's eyes widened a little. "It's a little different, but I'm trying to work on a way out. Right now, I can travel into different areas, make it something from my past, but that's about it. Adir has been tracking me so I can't linger too long in one place." Loki turned and started to clean up the mess on the table with his good hand, Tony helping silently. "I've been working on some spells that might be able to help, and trying to probe how deep into the Void that I am. Slowly but surely I'm moving closer to answers out."

"Okay," Tony nodded a little. "This is information that I can use." Loki raised an eyebrow. "Well, yo don't honestly think I'm just sitting around doing nothing do you?"

"Actually, I expect that's what you're doing," Loki said and Tony blinked. "I know it's what I would be doing were that far along in the pregnancy again."

"Alright, let me rephrase, you don't honestly think I'm letting others sit around and do nothing?" Loki snorted softly and smiled.

"Don't get into trouble." Loki rubbed Tony's cheek a little with his good hand and kissed his forehead. "It won't do any good to have you trapped as well. It may take some time, but I'm making progress and I will get out."

"I know you will, I just," Tony let out a sigh. "The wait is killing me. I mean, I've become pretty attached to you, and not int he whole we're connected by powers way. It sucks living without you right now. Our unborn daughter apparently wants to be named after you."

"I heard," Loki admitted softly.

Tony blinked and was going to ask how he knew when Loki looked past Tony. He blinked then froze when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulders, pulling him back into a chest. "He's heard and seen a lot, actually." Tony tried not to react when he heard Adir's voice. "I was sure to let him know of all the times that he was needed and was unable to be there. I made sure that he knew he missed the birth of young Cyrus. That was his name wasn't it?"

"You'll have to forgive me for not saying hi," Tony bit out. "The last time we saw each other you tried to kill me, slowly, and in a completely unforgivable way."

"Yes, and now you are a Norn." Tony looked at Loki as Adir spoke, both feeling uneasy suddenly. "Shall I show you what I did to her?" Tony saw Loki's eyes widen seconds before he felt the sharp pain in his stomach. "I didn't quite gut her like that, but it was obviously that wasn't good enough to kill her the first time. I can at least learn from my mistake early on."

Tony swallowed and took a shallow breath as he glanced down, Adir's hand still gripping the dagger inside of him. He looked back up at Loki and saw him start to move towards him. Adir pulled the dagger out roughly and Tony let out a shout of pain.

"Dad!" Tony's eyes shot open, his hands on his round stomach, eyes filled with tears. "Dad, what's happening!" Tony could still feel the pain in his stomach.

"Get Alex," he managed to get out as another sharp pain ripple in his body. "Something's wrong. Very wrong."


	17. Chapter 17

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Loki had launched himself at Adir, Tony disappearing with his shouts of pain. Adir moved his leg behind him and thew his arm out at Loki, catching him in the chest and sending him flying across the room. Loki slammed into the wall, feeling it crack under him, but he wasted no time in pushing himself up, a growl in his throat.

"I wish I was able to go and see what damage I have caused to both him and the child," Adir said, a mad smirk on his lips. Loki had moved to his feet and ran at Adir again. Adir grabbed his leather wrapped hand and squeezed, pulling a strangled shout from Loki, almost sending him to his knees.

Loki could feel the tremble in his legs from the suddenly pain that was coursing through his body. He brought his other elbow down hard on Adir's chest and saw the man winch enough to know that he wasn't entirely healed.

Adir's hand slid down and grabbed Loki's wrist, throwing him back again, slamming into the table and chair, breaking them both. "I'm going to make you watch. You will know the damage caused, and you will watch them die." Adir started to walk away as Loki tried to push himself up again. "And then I will hold onto their souls as my own. They'll Never know peace," he hissed out before disappearing from the room.

Loki winced and slumped back against the wall when Adir disappeared and took a deep breath. He needed to get out of the Void, he needed to get back to Tony, needed to stop Adir. 

* * *

Tony let one hand clutch at the portable oxygen mask that Alex had given him while they moved him to the hospital. Someone was holding his other hand, letting Tony squeeze it till their circulation stopped.

Alex had pulled some of his Doctoral weight and managed to secure a room they could use for Tony to safely deliver, without anyone asking questions when they saw a heavily pregnant Tony Stark coming through the front doors. He was on a gurney as the small group slipped through the back emergency doors. Tony tilted his head and saw that Sander was holding onto a confused and sleepy looking Melisande, Chris and Alex were on either side of the gurney, talking about stats and drugs, he assumed. Bruce was back with Sander, Elpis next to him with Cyrus in her arms. That's when he saw that it was Eindride that was holding onto his hand.

"This doesn't feel like clockwork," Tony mumbled to Alex, lifting the little oxygen mask a little. Alex had given him a local anesthetic to help with the pain he had felt before, rushing him out to the SUV to get him to the hospital.

"Well, you're anything but easy, Tony," Alex said, trying not to let them hear how stiff his voice was. Tony knew they were trying not to let him worry, but they didn't know what had caused it. Tony was already worried, he knew that this was because of Adir. "Dr Banner, can you get the anesthesia-"

"No," Tony shook his head. "Stick with the local, I wanna be awake." Alex frowned down at him as they entered the surgery room.

"Tony, we don't know what's wrong, and-" Alex tried to make the argument to put Tony under, but he was having none of it.

"I need to know that she's alright," Tony interrupted him. "I need to hear that she's alright." Alex looked at him then looked at Chris before letting out a sigh of defeat.

"Fine, but I don't like it, I just want you to know." Tony snorted softly, letting his head fall back on the pillow. Everything moved as a blur for Tony after that. He was vaguely aware o Chris and Alex talking, and Bruce moving up to help, the three of them scrubbing up for surgery as fast as possible. He handed the oxygen to Eindride as he felt the drugs kick in, taking away the rest of the pain.

"No one is allowed to have babies in the middle of the night anymore," Eindride told him, still holding onto one of his hands. Tony snorted a little.

"That's how it all started," Tony said softly. He made a noise when he felt a pressure on his stomach. "Kaia was born in the early hours of the morning."

"So it's a Stark curse then?" Tony nodded. Eindride looked over when he heard a couple of soft curses from Alex and Chris.

"How bad does it look?" Tony asked, causing the three Doctor's to frown. They didn't answer him right away but he let out of a breath when he heard a soft, little cry. "She's fine, right? She's okay?" He saw Alex walk over to a table to, he assumed, check over his daughter properly. "You know if no one answers me then I just keep talking."

"Tony, it looks like you were stabbed," Chris stated bluntly, he and Bruce still around him.

"Yeah, I thought so." He could practically feel the frown from those around him. "Loki's knows, he's working on it. I'm tired, okay?"

"Tony, hey," Chris called out. "I'm gonna need you to stay awake, alright? Gonna need you to stay with us."

"Wish I could," Tony's said, his voice starting to sound sluggish. He could feel Eindride squeezing his hand a little tighter. "Bad side effect of being stabbed by an evil villain. Listen, Melisande knows what to name your sister," Tony said as he let his head drift to the side to look at Eindride. "Funnily enough they've been talking. Loki's okay with it, he's working on a plan." Tony let his eyes close. "I'm gonna sleep now." He heard voices calling him, but they were muffled, until they stopped, letting Tony rest.

Sander and Elpis looked up from their seats when Bruce walked into the room, rolling his scrubs in a ball in his hands. He gently threw them on a chair before taking the sleeping Melisande from Sander's arms. Sander got up quietly and left the room, heading for where his brother and Dad were. Eindride was waiting for him at the doorway.

"What's going on?" Sander looked at his older brother, sensing some movement behind him. Eindride was doing his best to block the view. "Anders..."

He licked his lips a little and let out a breath through his nose. "We don't know what really happened, but we're pretty sure that Adir was involved. Our sister-"

"Key," Sander supplied. "Melisande told me it was Aurora Keyri."

"Key," Eindride changed. "She uh, she's going to make it, but she'll have to be in NICU." Sander frowned. "Alex can't really pinpoint what's wrong, but he's going to take care of her personally." He shuffled a little and Sander didn't like it. "They said it looked like Dad had been stabbed, inside, and he had some internal bleeding. He was kind of babbling, but that's how we know it had something to do with Adir." Eindride had been looking down at his arms while he spoke, but he looked up meeting Sander's eyes over his glasses. "Dad's in a coma and they don't know why." Sander took a breath, feeling part of his body go numb from the news. "They don't know when, or uh, or if, he'll wake up."


	18. Chapter 18

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony's scrunched his face a little, head feeling a little fuzzy. He took a breath and opened his eyes, a little confused when he saw sky and leaves above him. "It's not everyday that someone appears sleeping." He blinked and sat up a little and saw two women standing in front of him. "Especially when he stays asleep for a while."

Tony looked around and saw a pedestal with a book floating above it, and a large golden tree, with roots big enough to sit on comfortably. "Oh, oh no." He pushed himself up slowly, looking down to see that once again he had a flat stomach, but there was no stab wound this time. "I'm dead, aren't I? I'm dead and now I have to spend forever as a Fate, don't I?"

"What do you think Anthony Stark?" A woman with black hair walked over to him, putting her hand out to help him up. "You're the teller of Futures, what do you think has happened?"

"Yeah, well, I don't think that's right." Tony took her hand and got up. He looked at the woman with long blonde hair, standing a little closer to the book on the pedestal. "I haven't actually made any predictions, and I haven't really seen anything since I got the powers."

"Because you haven't truly accepted them," Urd told him. "What are you afraid of seeing?"

"Last time I saw something happen, my son got hurt, and I saw my husband getting taken from me," Tony told her. "You'll excuse me if I'm not exactly excited more things that could tear my family apart."

"The future is not always full of horrible things, you've seen that." Urd looked at him then turned and walked back towards Verdandi. "Were you not shown glimpses of your family when Skuld first visited you?"

"I'm supposed to feel okay that I was shown a small moment? Because what followed was just as unimportant." Tony turned to look at the two Norns, a scowl on his face. "I'm supposed to feel okay that my husband is missing, on the verge of actually dying, that my family is still in danger, that I don't know what's happened with my newborn daughter? That all of that is supposed to mean nothing!"

"You could see if that is what the future holds for you and your family," Verdandi said calmly. "You are the Fate of Future, you can see who will and will not be in your future."

"Once I see that future, I can't change it," Tony growled out. "I had to learn that the hard way."

"Then you will not be able to return to your family." Urd walked over to the book, the book that was still. "But, if you don't at least see one thing, you may not have to worry about a family." Tony frowned and walked over to them, and the book. "This book has held the past, present, and future of being in the Nine Realms. It constantly changes, new things are written in it."

Tony peered over at it. "Nothing's happening."

"There is a balance that must be upheld. The wheel of life must still turn, the waters of new birth must still flow, and the balances must be kept." Urd looked down at the book, then up at Tony. "The balance is starting to fall. Yggdrasil," she motioned up to the golden tree, "feels the difference, her leaves start to wilt, the Nine will soon feel the repercussions."

"If that is not enough to spur you on, if you do not give at least one prophecy, you will not be able to leave this place," Verdandi told him with a hard voice. "Your body will waste away on Midgard until eventually it dies, and you Will remain here."

"You ladies make a very convincing argument," Tony said softly. He licked his lips and looked between them. "If I don't like what I see, I'm still stuck with it, aren't I?" They didn't answer him and he gave a little nod. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Finding his core he found the new power sitting there, patiently waiting for him. Tony knew he had to do it, if not for his family, then to keep every other Realm alive.

Urd and Verdandi watched him, then glanced back at the book. Slowly words started to appear again, the pages ruffled as a breeze passed through the area. Tony let out a small gasp as his eyes shot open. "I need to go back, I need to go now." 

* * *

Sander let out a yawn as he walked back down the hall to the NICU, cup of coffee in hand. He raised an eyebrow when he saw a very familiar figure standing at the windows, watching Alex finish a check up on Key. "When did you get back from Spain?" He took a sip from his cup and offered it to Tomas.

"About five minutes ago," he answered his twin, taking the coffee. He still had his jacket on, prompting Sander to think that he had just teleported home, then to the hospital. "I started getting things in order when I got your text. They told me to take as much time as i needed, I'd still have a job when I was ready to come back."

"You must be doing pretty well if they're already offering you a job." He leaned against the wall, looking at Tomas. Green eyes met brown. "Dad's down the hall. It's uh," he made a little face. "It's a little disconcerting."

Alex walked out of the room and over to the boys, a bundle in his arms. "I can give you two ten minutes to take her to see him." Tomas took his newborn sister carefully from Alex and Sander leaned in to see her. She was small, smaller than any of the other Starks when they were newborn, and she was quiet, but wide awake. She gripped the edge of the blanket in her tiny hand and looked at her brothers with interest.

"She's going to have the Stark curiosity, that's for sure," Sander said,, rubbing her cheek with his finger. He gave Alex a little nod and they made their way down the hall, Sander showing Tomas to the right room. When they walked in Tomas looked up and swallowed suddenly.

Tony was laying in the bed, looking asleep, but he had several tubes and wires connected to him, an oxygen mask over his face, and he looked slightly paler than usual. The bed was tilted up so he was sitting up, and there were three chairs in the room. Eindride was sitting in one of the chairs, legs curled up, head leaned against the window, asleep.

"I managed to get a hold of Kaia and Nathan," Sander said quietly as he pulled the other two chairs up next to each other. "They're on their way up, Kaia was going to tell Emma and Dani."

"Is Uncle Bruce with Melli, then?" Tomas asked and his twin nodded.

"She's still young, we didn't want her seeing Dad like this just yet." Sander grabbed the see through crib that was in the room and rolled it over to them. "She's smart though, she knows something wrong."

Tomas leaned over a little and took Tony's hand gently, lifting it up a little and letting Key grip one of his fingers. "Melli's not the only smart one," Tomas said with a soft smile on his face. "Take this time to know what silence is little one, because once Daddy wakes up, he'll never stop talking."

There was a soft snort from Eindride in the corner as he slowly woke up. "That's an understatement." He stretched his arms first, then stretched his legs out and Tomas gently put Key in the crib. "Any change?"

"Just Alex breaking the littlest Stark out of the slammer." Both Tomas and Sander gave Eindride identical smiles.

"I remember when you two were small and cute." Eindrde frowned looking at them. "What the hell happened?" He laughed and hopped away from the two arms that reached out to hit him. "How long are you here for, Tom?"

"As long as you guys need me," he told his older brother. "Preferably I won't be leaving until the whole family is back together."

"Your hope is a foolish one." All three guys turned, Tomas and Sander standing up, when they heard the strange voice and the door shutting. "Your family is actually quite a pain. The fun I've been having with the sorcerer is running low, and I owe him some pain." Adir glanced over at Tony then at the newborn in the crib, her arms and legs starting to move as even she sensed trouble. "How disappointing, they both still live. This family makes me appear weak, and I just cannot let that information get out."

Tomas was moving back towards Key as Eindride and Sander stepped forward, blocking Adir from Tony and their sister. "We can more than make you look weak," Sander said. There was a thick crackle of power in the room.

"No." Sander kept his eyes on Adir as the raspy voice spoke. Eindride and Tomas had whipped their heads around to look at Tony. "Don't, dare, touch, them." Adir smirked a little, keeping his sight on Sander as well. Tony was slowly pushing himself up, the oxygen mask pulled off.

"Did you see the future, Anthony?" Tony glared at him as he started to pull the wires off and pull out the IV's. "Did you like what you saw? Tell me, is it the same future that I have in mind right now?"

Sander's hands started to glow green and Adir grinned. "Do you threaten me boy?"

"Sander, don't." Tony was attempting to get out of the bed, Eindride there trying to stop him.

"I'm very interested in what the boy thinks he can do," Adir taunted. "Does he think of himself as at his Father's level?"

"Usually when people underestimate us, they end up dead," Sander growled out. The two looked at each other, both with spells at their fingertips. Sander moved first, throwing spikes of energy at Adir, who merely brushed them away like dust in his eyes. He threw some more as they moved closer to each other. Tomas had moved to the opposite end the room, shielding Key with his body as she started to whimper.

Tony had gotten to his feet and Adir was standing in front of Sander, hand gripping his jaw and lifting him up. Both Tony and Adir felt a faint prickling in the air and Adir's grin widened as Sander struggled in his grip. "Oh, this is just too much."

There was a faint pop. "Stop!" Loki growled out from behind Adir, vials in his good hand.

"You impress me sorcerer, finding your way out of the Void." Adir turned to face Loki, putting Sander's back to Loki. "Let me give back to you what you gave to me with your spells." He lowered Sander down until his feet were touching the ground again. He surged his other arm forward, a glowing sword appearing in his hand as he slid it through Sander's chest.

Loki ran forward and caught Sander as Adir threw him over, sliding him off of his sword. He turned to face Tomas and Key and saw Eindride and Tony in his way. "One is enough for today, I'll be back for the rest." He took a step back into a shadow in the corner, disappearing from the room.

Loki was holding onto Sander, eyes wide as he ran his hand over his chest. Sander struggled to pull air into his body before letting out a cough, red spattering his lips. Tony stumbled over to them, angling Sander up. "Hang on kid, just hang on, we can fix this."

"Hit, lungs," Sander's rasped out. "Saved, Key, saw, Dad." He gave him a small smile before pain ripped over his expression. Tomas suddenly dropped down next to him, taking his other hand. "Sorry," he coughed again.

"Don't be sorry, don't be a dick," Tomas said quickly, tears welling in his eyes. "We made a promise, remember? We were gonna get married at the same time, and make our partners go crazy when we insist on having our kids at the same time, and we were gonna fucking die at the same time."

Tony looked at Loki with wild eyes. Loki's hand was still glowing, but nothing was happening. He started to shake his head, mumbling under his breath.

"S'ok." Sander put his hand on top of Loki's, struggling to take a breath. "Key, gunbe, special." He wheezed a couple of times before coughing a little. Key started to cry in Eindride's arms now. Loki leaned his head over his sons, resting it on his forehead, his chest resting still. Tomas let out a small sob, still holding onto Sander's hand, and Tony flopped back, leaning against the wall, his body numb from disbelief. Their son was gone.


	19. Chapter 19

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony was sitting in a chair, a sleeping Key in his arms, aware of Alex and some equipment behind him. Less than 12 hours after Adir showed up and they had managed to move everyone back to the mansion. Alex was setting up everything he'd need to monitor Key and Tony up in the lab. He looked up when the door to the lab was pushed open and he saw Dani walking in. She wasted no time and walked over, kissing first Key's forehead, then Tony's cheek.

Emma found Loki standing on the roof of the mansion. The moon was high in the sky, and they could hear the water lapping at the rocks below. Emma just moved in front of him, wrapping her arms around him tightly. Loki just let his head rest on top of hers.

"I know what you're thinking,' she said quietly. Loki could tell that she had been crying. The general mood of the family. "It wasn't your fault, you didn't cause this to happen."

"I should have stopped him," Loki's voice was barely audible. "I had the spells ready, but I let myself get distracted. His sword, the power left over from it, it prevented me from healing him. I couldn't save my son."

"He has power that no one is able to combat," Emma said, reaching her hands up to rest on his cheeks. "This isn't like anyone else we've ever come up against. Look at what he's done to you, what he's done to Dad."

"I hurt him," Loki said, never meeting her eyes. "I found a way to injure him. I could have used it to stop him, I could have incapacitated him enough to save-" Loki stopped, feeling the burns of tears again. "I can still stop him."

"Dad, please, we need you here right now," Emma pleaded softly. "Please, stay with us." Loki closed his eyes, a couple of tears rolling down his cheeks.

A couple of hours later, Loki found Tony in their room, sitting at the edge of the bed. Loki sat next to him, gently rubbing Tony's back, wrapping an arm around him when Tony pressed himself to Loki's chest. "I saw Eir," Tony whispered. "She said that a Valkyrie had come for him." Loki's jaw tightened almost unnoticeably. "I begged her not to let him be part of the army. I begged her not to let our son become a part of that." He had begged to not let him forget everything about his family.

"I can talk to Thor," Loki said quietly. "He can pass a message for us, to possibly get an audience with the Valkyries." He ran his hand through Tony's hair. "Maybe... He'll at least be with Frigga, she'll take care of him."

"He did it to save Key. She was only two days old." Tony's hand gripped Loki's shirt. He didn't want to let him go, didn't want to lose someone else, again. "She's small."

"She's already been through a lot. I daresay she's going to be one of the strongest of our children." Loki rested his head on top of Tony's. Eventually they managed to get some sleep. 

* * *

Melisande woke up to see Loki quietly walking into her room, shutting the curtains from the sun that was starting to come through. She let out a little gasp and jumped from her bed onto Loki, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Dad!" Loki jumped a little then swung her around to hold onto her. "You're back!"

"I am little one." He gave her a soft smile. "My, how you've grown. You're going to need to stop that before you get to big." Loki rubbed her back as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Everyone is sad." Loki blinked a little as she spoke. "I try to find San, but he sleeping. He wouldn't wake up." Loki froze at her words. "Can we go wake him up?"

"Sweetheart," Loki said softly, placing a kiss on the side of her head.

"Please," she practically begged against his neck. "He cold, and wouldn't wake up."

Loki was trying to figure out how she would have found him. He and Tony had refused to leave Sander at the hospital, not wanting to give Adir another opportunity to hurt them. Melisande must have woken up in the middle of the night. "Sweetheart, he's not going to wake up." Melisande lifted her head and frowned at him. "He got hurt, and he can't wake up now."

"We have to help him, please Dad, please." Her hands were gripping his shirt, her eyes big and pleading. Loki looked at her sadly.

"We may not be able to help him, love."

"We have to try," she said strongly. Loki couldn't deny her spirit, even if he dreaded the realization she would later have. He knew it was going to be hard to tell her.

"We'll try, love, we'll try." She wrapped her arms around his neck again as he headed for the stairs down to the lab. At the door he saw Eir talking with Tony and Alex and frowned. He set Melisande down at the bottom of the stairs. "Stay here for a second, sweetheart. I need to speak with your Nana, first." She wiggled her nose a little but nodded, sitting on the bottom step. Tony caught his eyes as he walked in, shutting the door so Melisande wouldn't be able to hear them. He had a bad feeling.

"I went to the Fields, to check on him," Eir's voice held a slight shake to it. "He wasn't there, no one had seen him. I went to the Halls to see if there had been a mix-up but he wasn't there either." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I even went down to Helheim, he wasn't there either."

"What do you mean?" Tony was watching her, his voice a little tight. "I thought a Valkyrie was coming for him."

She took a breath, meeting his eyes, then looked at Loki. "There was... When Adir," she made a motion to the words no one wanted to say, "he left that power there, to prevent you from healing him. That power still lingers inside of his body."

"Is that preventing him from entering Valhalla?" Loki asked. If that were the case he could try to pull it out, that he could try to do.

"Yes, and no," she said quietly. "I went to try and find the Valkyrie sent to get him..." She took a breath and Tony and Loki knew it wasn't going to be good news. "Adir had killed her. I'm sorry, he has Sander's soul."


	20. Chapter 20

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Sander coughed and took a breath as his eyes shot open. Something wasn't right. He looked around, becoming aware that something was wrapped around his legs preventing him from moving. When he looked up he stopped moving, seeing the grinning face of Adir.

"You are a lot like your Father, the sorcerer, that's not had to notice." Adir started to slowly circle him. Sander pushed himself up to stand, wanting to at least look confident. "Your magic is tinted with the color of his, you have his eyes, you also have his misplaced confidence."

"I also have a healthy hatred of you," Sander threw in. "And I'm usually called the nicest of all my siblings."

"Of which there are many, too many in my opinion."

"Thankfully your opinion doesn't matter," Sander threw out.

Adir let out a laugh. "My opinion is the only one that matters. I am the Creator of your little Universe, of your world, I am the reason that you live." He let out a breath. "That was not the point that I was getting too. I wonder if you're going to be as much fun as your Father, before he overstepped his bounds."

"They're going to know that you've taken me, you know," Sander watched him walk around behind him again. "That's going to be unforgivable."

"You mistake me for someone who cares." He stopped in front of Sander and looked at him. "I'm thinking that maybe you should get a little closer to your other Dad, the unfortunate Norn, who by rights shouldn't be alive." Sander frowned watching him. "I think that you should walk a mile in his shoes." He put his hand on Sander's head and there was a flash of white.

Sander gasped when something rocked him around. He blinked his eyes around and saw that he was sitting in a truck, and what looked like the desert around him. There was yelling and loud sounds. He ducked his head when an explosion outside of the vehicle broke the glass in the windows. Scrambling out of the car he ducked down when dirt and sand went flying over the car.

"Holy shit, what the fuck." Sander started to move, looking around. He saw soldiers running around, a lot were no longer moving. He recognized the uniforms as American, but they hadn't been used in years. He blinked a little, realizing that these uniforms probably hadn't been used since his Dad was young.

Some bullets hit the ground behind him and he yelped, starting to run. he kept low, skidding on the dirt road until he hit the sand on the other side. Sander ran for the large boulder to take some cover, vaguely noticing the small metal rocket that landed in the sand. Something pulled his attention, facing the rocket and he frowned when he saw the Stark logo on it.

"Shit!" He scrambled up, remembering how Tony said that his company used to make weapons. Either someone was still making those and he needed to talk to Eindride and Tony, or something was very wrong. The blast threw him back, the sound causing a ringing in his ears. He coughed, feeling pain in his chest again before he whited out.

A scream was pulled from him when he was abruptly pulled back to a semi-conscious state. There was a blurred light above him, several people talking in a different language. There was a pain in his chest, and he started to pant heavily. He could think, couldn't focus. All he knew was pain and confusion. He couldn't move, couldn't sit up and he started to thrash his shoulders. Voices were yelling, he couldn't tell if they were yelling at him or at someone else. A white rag was descending down over his nose, soon taking him back to unconsciousness.

Sander blinked his eyes open and took a deep breath. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He almost shot up, but a pain in his chest was stopping him from moving too fast. The voice didn't belong to Adir, though.

"What did you do to me?" Sander looked over and he felt his mouth slowly fall open. That voice definitely belonged to his Dad. He hadn't expected to see a much much younger looking Tony though. He saw gauze and wrappings over his chest, and a hole had been ripped to see something round and metal in his chest, but there was no glow.

Sander looked down, blinking when his eyes were met with the familiar blue glow of the arc reactor. "What I did," Sander's head shot up, the scene in a cave no longer around him, but Adir was walking towards him. "What I did was let you understand the pain that your family goes through. What they will always go through." Adir leaned down in front of Sander, putting a hand on his chest. He hissed out in pain, the skin around the reactor sensitive. "And you're going to live through everything. But this," he tapped the reactor, "this is never going to go away now." 

* * *

Loki stood next to a chair that Melisande stood on, both looking over Sander. Melisande was watching Loki's hand as they glowed, trying to help her brother. She was sure that he could help, because her Dads were able to do anything. And when her brother woke up, he pick her up and tickle her, and they would go and see Key.

Loki tried not to scowl as he was unable to grasp the lingering power he could feel. He could feel Adir's power, and he was trying to keep down the roiling fury inside so that Melisande didn't have to see it. Melisande wiggled over, leaning against the bed, and put her small hands over Loki's hand. He looked over at her and saw her eyes closed tightly in deep concentration.

Her little hands started to glow a pale blue, and Loki could actually feel extra power being added to his. He was almost surprised, that the pure determination of his young daughter could actually tip the balance. All she wanted was for her brother to wake up, to call her munchkin again, and she would do anything to get that back.

Loki started to slowly lift their hands, pulling out a string of energy. Loki grasped it quickly before it could seek a path back to Sander, or even to Melisande. Loki wasn't going to let Adir get away with anything else.

"Go tell your Dad and Nana that we've helped," Loki said to Melisande. She carefully climbed down the chair and ran back through the lab. Loki looked at the power, grinding his teeth together a little. What Adir didn't know what that now with a sample of his power, Loki could create spell targeted at the Creator. He knew he had the power to hurt him, but now, he could put a concentrated target into the mix, and that was the most dangerous aspect to Loki's magic.

"Now, I'm coming for my son." Loki let a smirk cross his face. "You're going to regret your actions."


	21. Chapter 21

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony knew that Loki was going to leave right away, they had both decided that that would be the best way. Once Loki removed Adir's influence from Sander he would go and steal him back from under his nose. Eir would let the Valkyrie's know, and then all be set right, in the way that it should be. If things were going to be set right, his son would be coming back to him, not going to a land of the dead.

He had put Key down for a nap, watching as Melisande sat next to the crib on the cot Tony had set up. He let out a breath and closed his eyes. When Tony opened his eyes again he found himself back with Urd and Verdandi.

"Uh, this is unexpected, and possibly unwelcome." Tony frowned a little as he walked over to the them, crossing his arms over his chest.

"The balance is at a crucial juncture right now," Verdandi started.

"You told me that before," Tony said. "And I went back, and my son died, if you hadn't noticed. I'm doing my-"

"We can bring your son back to you." Tony stopped and looked at them. "There will be an opening, where our powers can be used to rewrite his fate."

"What's the catch?" Tony asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"We can not change what Adir has done to him," Urd told him. "However he is now, is how he will be when he comes back."

"Whatever wounds he has will heal naturally," Verdandi continued.

"Alright," Tony nodded slowly. "When will we know when the opening is?"

"You'll need to see the future again, and you will need to predict the impossible." Tony shot Urd an annoyed look. "You will need to have a prophesy about Adir."

"You're kidding right?" He looked between the sisters. "I was told that was impossible. He doesn't Have a future, because he's such a dick that he eludes it all."

"With the balance in danger, there are no rules," Urd told him.

"Any tips from those more experienced? A little Master to Padawan advice would be nice right now. I apparently have to perform a miracle." Tony was snapping his fingers in nervous habit.

"You used your powers before,"Verdandi started. "Focus on that again."

"And think about Adir?"

"No!" Both sisters shouted. "Never to us on one singular person," Urd warned. "Only Skuld was able to control those energies and-"

"She waswas way better at it than me, got it." Tony took a breath. "Do I have to stay here to do this? I've got a toddler and a new born at home,..." Tony trailed off making some vague hand motions. "I'd feel more pressure if I had to stay here."

"We will know when it happens," Urd assured him. "Do not wait too long to use your powers though,-"

Tony nodded and turned around. "Got it, you've stressed the time importance. If I've got a chance at saving my son, I need to go back home where there is no, added, stress and pressure." 

* * *

Sander gasped for breath as he flipped his head up, eyes opening wide, hands bracing himself on the ground. He ran one of his hands over his face and hair, expecting it to be wet. There was the soft liking of a tongue from behind him.

"That method doesn't exactly agree with everyone," Adir tsked as he walked around Sander and in front of him. "I don't think Daddy dearest took to kindly to the water either. Perhaps you two do have more in common than I thought." Sander shot a glare at Adir, slowly pushing himself up. Adir grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet, turning his arm over a little, showing black lines crawling down his arm. "Of course, the palladium didn't agree with him either."

"Let go of him." Adir smirked at the voice behind him. Sander's eyes flickered over to see who was speaking.

"Come to take your little boy back from me?" Adir dropped Sanders arm, causing him to stumble a little, and turned around to face Loki. "How long until you realized that I had him? Tell me how long until you thought about all the wonderful things that I could do to him? I really want to know, sorcerer."

"I can tell you that it did not take very long to decide to kill you." Adir snorted, a smirk still on his face, until something slammed against the back of his head, throwing him forward. The Loki in front of him shimmered away and Adir turned around to see Loki standing in front of Sander. "You made a mistake when you tried to prevent me from healing him before."

"Oh? And what would that be?" Adira raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

Loki held up his hand, a green and white glow surrounding his fingers. "You left a trace of your power where I could get to it."

"Do you think that's actually going to help you? I'm still more powerful than you." Loki just let the corner of his lip turn up. Adir tried not to frown.

Sander couldn't help but to lean on Loki's back, but it didn't distract him in the slightest. Loki rolled his fingers and hand around, crafting a spell with no words. "In Asgard, I studied magic instead of spending all my time on the training grounds. I have finely crafted the ways of magic, and even created new ways of working with the power. And, as others have found out, when I feel threatened, I'm at my most dangerous." Adir opened his mouth and took a step forward and Loki violently lashed his arm out, throwing the power in his hand at the Creator. It caught him in the chest and threw him backwards hundreds of feet.

Loki turned quickly and wrapped an arm around Sander's back, helping him back down to the ground. "He's going to be pissed." Loki snorted a little. "Even if we get out of here, there are two issues. He'll just come back to find us, and I'm still dead."

Loki pat Sander's cheek a little. "Like death has ever stopped this family. That doesn't mean I'm going to let you suffer. I can at least make sure that you end up where you belonged in the first place."

There was a slight breeze behind them and Loki turned, frowning when he saw someone else walking towards them. "We have a few ideas about where he actually belongs." Verdandi leaned down in front of them. "The balance is still undone, and we can pull a few strings. We can return him back to Midgard."

"But, you're not allowed to do that," Loki said quietly, frowning slightly. "If it were I would have asked already."

"There's a lot that's not supposed to be happening right now," Verdandi answered. "We have already spoken with Anthony about this, and he has played his part to make this possible." Sander swallowed a little as he listened. "Let me take him Loki, let me return him to you back home."

"Why are you doing this?" The Fate raised an eyebrow at his question. "You don't do things like this for us, it just doesn't happen. So, why now?"

"For once, we don't have to follow the rules," she said, smiling gently at him. "You and Anthony deserve this, and it was not his time to die." Verdandi put her hand out to Sander. "There isn't much time, this must happen before balance is restored."

Sander looked at Loki for a second before taking her hand. A loud crack of power sounded around them and Loki and Sander looked up. "He's coming back. Go, I'll take care of this." Loki stood up, power around his hands. "Go before he can stop this again. I'll not lose my son a second time." Verdandi nodded before disappearing with Sander.

Adir stepped into view, getting closer to Loki, his hands glowing white, his eyes glowing with power. "I'm going to erase you from existance," he hissed.

"I look forward to giving you the same."


	22. Chapter 22

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Sander leaned against one of the large tree roots, leaning his head down against his knees. Verdandi and Urd watched him, not exactly wanting to tell him that he was using the great tree Yggdrasil as something to sit on.

"Do I have to be reborn?" Sander asked them. When he had arrived with Verdandi he was told they had to wait for something, but wouldn't tell him what. "Is that the catch?"

"No," Urd spoke. "You'll be able to go back to your old life with your family." Sander raised an eyebrow, glancing up slightly at them. "the best that we can do is that you will return as you are right now." Sander's hand tapped the reactor and they both nodded. "We are unable to undo what Adir has done."

"We also have no idea how that works, that's something that Anthony would know about." Verdandi added.

"You said you had already talked to him about all of this?" The sisters nodded.

"He is completing the final step before you can return home." 

* * *

Tony sat up suddenly, taking in a gasping breath, eyes wide. He glanced around and saw that Melisande was still asleep and Alex was finishing doing a check up on Key before making his way over to him, looking concerned. He tried to push himself up from the cot but Alex put a hand on his shoulder.

"Tony, what's wrong?" Alex crouched down a little to be eye level with him.

"I have to find Loki," Tony said taking another look around, confirming that Loki had not returned yet. He tried to get up again but Alex kept him down.

"I'm not letting you go anywhere just yet." Alex frowned a little at him. "Tony, you just came home from the hospital. You had suffered mysterious stab wounds, been through a difficult delivery, and spent three days in a coma. If this were anything close to normal I'd still have you hooked up in the hospital."

"But it's not normal, so here I am, and I feel fine," he looked at Alex, "-ish." Alex gave him a stern look. "Fine, I'll stay here, but you have to do something for me." Alex hummed a little, raising an eyebrow. "Go check on Sander."

"Tony," the doctor said softly.

"No, listen, I'm not crazy. This isn't some delusioned request from a grieving parent." Alex didn't look convinced. "You know that things are messed up right now, right?" A nod. "Okay, well, that means that things are off balance in the Universe, and the Fates are doing me a solid. They're able to bring Sander back, and it's going to happen soon. I need you to go check on him."

Alex blinked a little. "You're positive on this? Because that's not something that they usually have the power to do."

"Never been more positive, Alex. Because of Adir acting all crazy, he's thrown off the Universal balance. They're trying to get it back on track, but before it happens they have one shot at giving our boy back to us, and I'll be damned if I'm going to mess this up." He looked at Alex for a second before the younger man nodded. "Thank you. And don't worry, I'm not going to run off. i've got my two girls here to look after."

"Thank the Norns you're still a responsible parents." Tony snorted as Alex stood up, grabbing some of his stuff to go check on Sander.

If Tony couldn't go try and find Loki, he could at least go to Verdandi and Skuld to tell them he had his vision. He could get Sander back and then they could go and get Loki. Tony had to move fast. He took a breath before laying back down on the cot and closing his eyes.

"Anthony." When he opened his eyes again he saw Urd standing in front of him, back in the grove. "You've had the vision then?"

"Yeah, but listen, I gotta-" he blinked when Urd took his hands. There was a sudden flash and he let out a breath.

"There was no follow up to what you saw?" She let go of his hands and he raised an eyebrow at her. "I merely just replayed your vision so that I could see it and record it. Again, there was no follow up?"

"No," he shook his head. "But, Loki's gotta know-"

"It is likely that he knows of what could happen, he is very intelligent." She placed a hand on his elbow and started to pull him forward. "Come, we must move quickly."

"Quickly? For what? In what I saw-" When Tony was interrupted a third time, he didn't get angry.

"Dad!" Tony heard Sander's voice and his feet moved on their own, taking him down to his knees to wrap his arms around him. "Damn, you look good here, no baby weight." He chuckled lightly when Tony pushed his shoulder. He happened to catch sight of some of the black lines around Sander's neck and on his arm.

Tony frowned and gently traced some of the line with his finger, having unwelcome flashbacks. Leaning back he gently pushed Sander's shirt down towards his chest and saw the familiar blue glow. He caught Sander's eyes.

"He won't have this when he goes back, right?" Tony asked the two sisters, still looking at Sander. Even his sons' expression turned sad. Tony took a long breath. "He would give you an older model," he said quietly.

"Palladium is kind of painful," Sander's gave him a forced smile.

"It really is. But it's okay, I've got a solution for that." He pat Sander's cheek. "We can get this al taken care of when we get back."

"I think I know why you don't tell us about your past." Tony felt a pang in chest at the words. "It's not exactly bed time story material is it?" Tony took his hands and helped him stand up. "And this was all before you met Dad."

"I don't think stories of torture make for good stories, no," Tony shook his head. He looked at his youngest son, seeing a similar haunted look in his eyes that he saw when he had first gotten back from the desert.

"It's okay," Sander said softly. "I'll be okay now."

"I know of a little girl who is going to never leave your side," Tony said n a weak attempt at changing the subject. Sander gave him a soft smile and nodded.


	23. Chapter 23

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

"So, how does this work?" Tony looked at the two other fates. "Anything special we have to do?" He had one hand on Sander's back, helping keep his balance.

"Take a deep breath." Verdandi said. Tony and Sander both raised an eyebrow. "Your body is going to geel a little confusion when it's suddenly breathing again." Sander's mouth made a little 'o'.

"So, try not to have a panic attack when my body is freaking out, got it." Sander nodded a little. Tony winced a little and rubbed his head. Sander noticed how Urd and Verdandi watched him with interest.

"Come along now, we must move quickly." Verdandi offered her hand to Sander. "Your father will soon follow."

"Follow?" Sander frowned as Verdandi started to pull him forward ad Urd went over to Tony. "Shouldn't he be following me? He knows what needs to be done, how to take care of all of this." Sander waved his hand in the general area of his chest. He looked back over his shoulder and saw Tony had his hands pressed up towards his temples, eyes shut tightly. "What's happening?"

"The balance is restoring itself," Verdandi started to explain. "With the balance coming back, so does the need to have prophecies recorded. He is having an influx of prophecies that need to be recorded. This is also why we need to return you immediately, before the balance is snapped back into place with these prophecies."

"Wait." Tony rubbed at his head then opened his eyes. "Shit this hurts. Alright talk to JARVIS, he can help until I get back. Have him run some scans, he'll tell you and Alex what you need to do for the palladium." Tony hissed in a breath and squeezed his eyes shut again.

"Tony, the more you fight them, the more it will hurt," Urd told him.

"In a second, I'm not done." Tony took a slow breath and opened his eyes again. They seemed to look brighter, a glow starting to build up. "Talk to Eir, tell her to go and get Frigga. Tell her that Loki needs her. They'll figure it out, it just has to be fast. If they won't move fast enough, tell them it's because of something I saw, and it's important." 

* * *

Tomas had his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Alex and Chris. A pair of hands started to rub his shoulders from behind but he didn't move.

"It's not going to get any easier," Kaia said softly behind him. She leaned her head on his shoulder, following his eyes over to their still brother.

"This shouldn't even be a thing that should be happening," Tomas countered. "I shouldn't be looking at my brother like this. He's my twin, he's like, half of me." Kaia wrapped her arms around him.

"We always lived so far away from each other, and I'm so much older than you." Tomas raised his eyebrow a little as she started talking. "I mean, Emma was my flower girl at my wedding. I guess technically, Nathan and I are six years older than we should be." Tomas turned his head a little to look at her. "There are so many stories that you don't know about. But my point is that I haven't exactly been the best sister to my siblings."

"You and Nathan have had more time to make your place, it's not like we can expect both of you to just always show up. You guys have a lot of important things to do, a lot of responsibilities," Tomas turned to the side, turning in her arms, to talk to her. "You're still here when family needs you, and you know we'll be there for you when you need it, and that's what matters."

"Remind me to tell you the story of how we were actually jealous of you two when you were young." Tomas raised an eyebrow. "You two were only five, we had just met you, and a lot was happening."

Tomas was about to ask her a question when the air in the room suddenly thickened. They both turned when they saw Alex and Chris jump back. There was a long wheezing breath and Sander's chest was heaving up. Tomas's eyes widened when he saw his brother's eyes open wide.

"Holy fuck," he breathed out. Kaia's arms suddenly fell away from him as she dropped them in shock, and he ran over to the bed. "Sander? What the hell!" He reached out and took Sander's hand as started taking gasping breaths. His eyes glanced down and saw a blue glow under his shirt.

"Hey, hey, focus on my voice." Tomas looked over and saw Chris trying to get Sanders' attention. He had almost forgotten the other men were there. "You're going into an anxiety attack right now, and we need you to calm down. its going to be hard, but you need to concentrate so you don't send your body into shock."

Sander squeezed Tomas's hand, pulling his attention back. "JARVIS, scan please." Tomas called out, seeing the minute nod from Sander.

"Mr Stark appears to be also suffering from trauma of a newly implanted arc reactor, and lingering palladium poisoning," the AI told them after a moment. A panel opened along the top of one of the desks. "I am unable to synthesize the element needed without Sir, but I can offer an injection to temporarily disperse the effects."

Chris moved to grab the vials and Tomas looked back at his brother and saw that he was getting ready to say something. "Get, Nana. Dad needs it." 

* * *

There was a loud crack as Loki's body hit the truck of a tree. When the large tree starting to fall the clone started to disappear as the real Loki moved away from the advancing Adir to catch his breath. He pulled out a couple of vials from inside his jacket and gripped them in his good hand. He had managed to throw a glamour over his still healing hand, but knew that Adir would remember the damage. With the vials he was able to add Adir's power to it so it wouldn't harm him this time.

He knew that Adir was hurting, and he was pretty happy with that, but he knew he needed to more. Loki ducked down and moved when he felt Adir moving, lashing out with his power in Loki's direction.

"Feeling a little tired?" Loki took several steps back away from him. "I felt you coming way too early." Loki felt the build up of a spell coming from Adir and put a clone in his place before moving. He was behind Adir when the man used his magic to move over to his clone, a dagger in his hand and moving to stab Loki, the tip glowing with a spell.

Loki jumped forward before Adir could realize that it wasn't him and pushed his hand against Adir's back, the vials pressed against his spine. "Do you remember the last time you tried this?" Adir reached back and grabbed Loki's hand, squeezing and crushing the bones in his hand. Loki grit his jaw, determined not to make too much noise. "Are you willing to destroy your other hand? In a weak attempt to try and put me out?"

"I've tailored this spells specifically to you," Loki grit out. "I know how to use my skills, and that's what I've done before coming to face you. I'm going to show you how it works, now." Loki pushed, putting all of his weight into crushing the felt the liquid under his hand, felt the warmth, felt his hand start to push down and slide into Adir.

The creator let out a gasp of pain, eyes widening in genuine surprise. Loki pulled his hand from Adir's grip, pushing into his back, pressing against his spine and forcing him down to the ground. "Do you remember when you said that I was the threat? That I had the power, and it could turn into something too dangerous at any time?" He forced Adir down onto his stomach. "You were right. But, did you anticipate that it would be you to turn the tide? For the exact reasons that you gave me? You threatened my family, you killed my son, and tortured him. You pushed me to do this."

Loki poised his hand over Adir's spine, stopping when a hand wrapped around his wrist. He looked up and glared when he saw Hela looking at him. "Let's not be so hasty, brother. Let's think about what having the Creator under your literal thumb could mean for us." She smirked.


	24. Chapter 24

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Eir rubbed Sander's cheek before dropping a kiss on his forehead. Tomas was staying close to his twin, knowing that once Melisande knew that he was 'awake', she wouldn't leave his side. Until possibly Loki came back.

"Alright, what is this urgent message from my son?" She took a small step back and looked at Sander. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, having shooed away everyone but Tomas, (who wasn't about to leave anyway), when Eir got there.

"He said that you need to get Frigga, and take her to Dad." Eir frowned at his words. "Who is Frigga? And how can she help?"

"She is your other grandmother." The twins blinked a little. "Loki's mother. She died when you two were five, before you had a chance to meet her." She paced a little in a small area, and Sander tried not to fidget. "Why would he want Frigga?"

"He said that Dad needs her, and that you would figure it out." Sander also remembered how Tony had expressed that it needed to happen quickly.

"Did he say why?" She turned back around to face him. "Did he say what it was for?"

"He didn't have time, he was about to get bombarded with visions. He said that it had something to do with what he saw before though." Now Tomas had raised an eyebrow at his brother. "I got the clear impression that it needed to happen quickly, though, like something bad was going to happen soon."

"I can't exactly take her from the fields, that are her own, and bring her back to the Nine Realms," Eir said. "That just can't happen."

"Dad is with Adir, in the Void," Sander told her. She wrinkled her nose a little and sighed a little.

"You should go and see your sisters." The boys watched her wings flex a little. "I have some work to do." She disappeared and Sander let out a little breath of relief. He blinked when there were arms hugging him around his shoulders.

"You ever fucking die on me again and I'll burn your body," Tomas said in his ear. "I won't let you come back a second time."

"That means a lot to me," Sander smiled a little as he pat Tomas's arm. "That must mean you really care about me." He grunted when Tomas punched his shoulder.

"Anything else happen that I should know about?" Tomas asked his twin, sitting down next to him on the bed. Sander didn't miss the pointed glance towards the arc reactor.

"It's not a touching tale," he said quietly. "Dad keeps a lot more to his chest than we know about, no pun intended. I found out why he doesn't actually like to go swimming all that often, and why he's so adamant about no one else ever having the Iron Man suit." He looked at Tomas and Tomas felt something stir in his chest when he saw a very unfamiliar, and troubling, look in Sander's eyes.

"Everyone says I'm most like Dad." Sander snorted a little. "You're not supposed to steal my job."

"It would be hard for you to do our job with a permanent night light, Tom." Sander pat his knee a little. "How are you supposed to see the stars when everything has a blue tint to it?" Tomas sighed and pressed his forehead against Sander's head.

After several minutes Sander let out a breath and used Tomas to stand up. "Alright, time to go find Melli."

"Are you a masochist?" Tomas grinned when Sander threw him a dirty look. 

* * *

Loki pulled his hand away from Hela, and away from Adir, but quickly put his foot over the hole in his back pulling a grunt of pain from him. "I think that we should stop and consider the situation that we find ourselves in."

"What is this talk of we?" Loki narrowed his eyes at her.

"I came earlier to warn you, did I not?" Loki snorted at her.

"You came to mock and insult me, I see no reason for you to have come back." Loki frowned he felt Adir's body shaking slightly under his foot, then heard the laughing from the man.

"Listen to the bickering, the argument of who will take the power." Adir let out a cough f pain when Loki put more pressure on his back. "Do you understand what is going to happen? If you kill me, sorcerer, someone will need to take the power. There needs to be a Creator. Will you take up the mantel?"

"Think of all the possibilities, Loki," Hella practically purred, moving closer to him. Loki held out a glowing hand and Hela stopped. "No one would ever think about threatening you or your family again."

"And why are promoting this idea so much?" Loki eyed her suspiciously. "Do you hope that this would happen, to have a chance at taking the power for yourself? Or to perhaps make a bargain for your freedom?"

"You must admit that I would be a fool to try and take back Helheim again," Hela told him. "Knowing that you could do whatever you wanted to me?"

"No," Loki shook his head. "Taking this power would make me more a target, my family as well. I will not put them in that danger." Hela narrowed her eyes at him and seemed to be trying not to bare her teeth at him. "And I'll not let you take the power." He leaned down before Hela could move, pushing his hand down on Adir's back again.

Adir started to laugh and grin. "I look forward to seeing you deal with the things that you will have woken up by doing this. I long to see your pain and your fear. Linger on the thought that something must have created m-" He was cut off with a final gasp as Loki snapped his spine.

A small globe of power started to shimmer between Loki and Hela, and the disgraced Goddess lunged for it. Her fingertips grazed it before it suddenly flew from them and over to the side. They looked over and Loki's eyes widened when he saw the hands that were wrapping around the power.

"I do not think that you would do well with this power, Hela." Frigga looked up at the two of them. "And I do not think that you truly want the power, do you Loki?" He shook his head gently, finding himself speechless at seeing his mother again, even if she knew she was just a spirit. "So we must obviously find someone better suited for this."

"And that means that you should be the one to decide?" Hela snarled out. "You are dead, what's makes you-" She stopped and growled when one of Loki's clones held a dagger to her throat.

"I'd be careful of the words you speak to our mother," the clone hissed out quietly.

"Perhaps your brother would be better trusted with this?" Frigga continued as if Hela hadn't been talking. Both Hela and the real Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Thor is already King of Asgard," Loki said. "I don't think-"

"I didn't mean Thor," Frigga gave him a soft smile. "He already has a lot of power and responsibility."

Loki and Hela both frowned then their eyes widened. "Balder?!"


	25. Chapter 25

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Balder traveled through the marketplace, looking for something to give to his youngest three grandchildren, something that would no doubt have Gabby and Steve give him tired looks. He smiled at the thought already, buying a couple of sweet from the local elvish shop. He placed the container in his sack and turned around to continue through the market, but stopped when the hustle of people were no longer around him. He blinked and turned around, thoroughly confused when he saw both Loki and Hela staring at him.

"Oh lord, you're serious," Hela breathed out, her hands open and clenching shut again. balder turned a little and saw Frigga, his eyes widened more.

"I'm very confused," Balder said slowly and Hela snorted. "I didn't die did I?"

"If only." Hela glared when Loki growled at her.

"No, you haven't died," Frigga smiled at him gently. "We are in a very precarious situation right now, and I believe that you could settle this for us."

"I don't actually like the sound of this." Balder walked a little closer to Frigga. "What's going on?" 

* * *

Tony swallowed as he took a deep breath through his nose. He felt something on his chest and frowned a little. There was a soft cooing sound and he slowly opened his eyes. He couldn't help but smile when he saw his newborn looking at him, her lips moving a little in what could have been a smile when he looked at her. Key let out another noise and moved her arms a little.

"Someone's very happy to see you awake." Sander smiled at him, his arm wrapped around Key as he sat with her in his lap.

"Well, she is incredibly smart," he said quietly, slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position. After he got his bearings he reached out and took Key into his arms. She seemed to snuggle into his chest. "Hello there. Getting tired of sleeping in a hideous plastic bed?"

"She may be, but she's going to have to endure it for a couple more days." Tony glanced up and saw Alex standing just behind Sander. "Not too much longer though," he smiled. "She's almost earned her clean bill of health."

"Let me guess, you're here to take her from me now?" Tony raised an eyebrow and Alex just smirked.

"She was about to take a nap before Sander stole her away from me." Sander grinned and Tony chuckled. He kissed Key's forehead, drawing another happy noise from her before handing her off to Alex. "You'll get her back when she wakes up, don't worry."

"Chris is with Mia and Melli," Sander told Tony as Alex walked away. "They're upstairs getting Key's new room ready for her." Tony nodded before reaching his arms out and pulled Sander into his arms. He hugged him as tight as he could and Sander closed her eyes, melting into his arms.

"As soon as Loki gets back, everything will be almost back to normal." Tony rubbed Sander's shoulders a little. "And we'll work on this thing," Tony said, glancing down at the arc in his sons chest. "I have a few years of experience that we can use." Sander smiled a little and nodded. Tony studied him for a few seconds. "Something else is bothering you, what-"

"San!" They were both distracted by the loud yell and gasp. Sander turned around just in time for Melisande to launch herself into his arms. Sander grinned and pulled her against his chest.

"Hey there, munchkin! I missed you." She snuggled her face into his chest, grinning.

"You have to stay here now, you can't leave again," Melisande said into his shirt. She pulled her head back and tilted it. "You have the same night light that daddy has in his chest."

"I do," Sander nodded a little. "Do you like Daddy's night light?"

Melisande shrugged a little. "Sometimes it gets too warm. Then I cuddle into Dad, he feels colder than Daddy." She leaned up to him suddenly, her face getting serious. "Does Fay know?"

Tony raised an eyebrow. Sander shook his head. "No, not yet." He put a finger to his lips and she giggled, putting a hand over her mouth.

"Wait," Tony leaned forward. "What are we talking about?" Melisande put her finger to her mouth, and smiled.

"It's our secret." Sander grinned at Tony as Melisande snuggled into Sander's shirt, trying to hide her face.

"Oh, that's just not fair," Tony pouted a little. "Just wait until your Dad gets home."

"I always get the secrets out." Tony jumped a little when he heard Loki's voice behind him.

"Dad!" Melisande held up her arms but didn't want to leave Sander's lap. "San! Everyone home now!" Sander chuckled and blew a raspberry on her cheek, making her squeal with laughter.

Tony looked over, trying not to frown when he saw Loki standing stiffly. He could feel the low level hum of Loki casting a glamour on himself. "Things went that well?"

Loki snorted a little. "I would be very nice to Balder from now on." He slowly sat down next to Tony. Tony noticed he was favouring his bad hand again. "I assume you had a hand in that decision being made?"

"I only asked that someone be sent out your way to help avoid chaos." Tony just raised his eyebrows innocently.

"Your grand idea was to send my mother?" Tony could see the slight smile that was coming over Loki's lips. He knew that Loki would be thankful that he was given one more chance to see Frigga.

"Facing a family dispute between you and your sister? Your damn skippy I'm sending your mother." Tony let out a little snort, gently leaning against Loki's good arm. "I didn't see it, but I didn't want to have the chance to see a future where Hela gets that power." Loki hummed a little and nodded. "You should think about getting some rest, you have a couple of important things to deal with in the morning."

Loki raised an eyebrow at him. "And what exactly what would that be?"

"And ruin the surprise?" Tony smirked and shook his head. "You'll just have to wait."


	26. Chapter 26

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Loki found himself waking up far earlier than he should have. The sun was barely up but he just couldn't sleep. He assumed Tony was still asleep because his body was still trying to heal.

"Yeah, I know." Loki stopped before he reached the kitchen, hearing the unfamiliar female voice. "Soon, like always." A pause. "Some stuff happened, big stuff. Yes, that prevented me from coming back the past few days." Loki silently moved, keeping himself hidden, and glancing around the corner. He saw the back of a woman leaning against the counter, phone pressed to her ear. Her long brown hair had been pulled into a hasty ponytail, and she looked like she had been sleeping, still dressed in a tank top and shorts.

"I know, babe," she let out a little sigh. "I promise. Melli can't wait to meet you." Loki frowned a little when she used Melisande's nickname. "Call you later. Yeah, I might try to get some sleep, it was hard trying to get to sleep last night." She let out a snort. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't you have a job to get to? Bye, babe."

Loki walked fully into the kitchen as the woman hung up, stepping up behind her. The woman started to turn around then let out a short scream before slapping a hand over her mouth. Wide, familiar, green eyes met Loki's. "You scared me!" The woman hissed out, placing a hand on her chest, resting above a glowing blue circle. "You are truly too quiet."

Loki studied her face before blinking and taking a step back. "Sander?" The woman blinked and looked down at herself, eyes widening further. "Are you alright?" He couldn't help but think that he had been cursed after his time with Adir.

"Yeah?" Sander raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean, I'm a little tired, having come back from the dead and all."

"So there's a reason behind the sudden gender change?" Sander blinked then made a little 'o' with her lips.

"I'm a shapeshifter like you?" Loki took a second to digest the situation around him. He couldn't say he was surprised, it was something that he did with Tony, sometimes even when they weren't trying to have another child.

"How long have you known?" Sander was the first to actually show an interest in their other abilities gained from Loki. As far as he knew, Sander was the only one that had actually ever shifted. "You learned on your own?"

"It just kind of happened one day?" Loki could hear in her voice that there was more to the story. "There was some experimenting in my college dorm about how far it could go, and what exactly I could shift into."

Loki hummed a little, nodding. He had also experimented with most of his powers when he was younger, having only his mother at the time to help him, but she was no shapeshifter. "I'm just a little surprised is all. More so that you didn't come to me with your questions." Sander just shrugged a little, shifting her weight from one leg to the other. Loki raised an eyebrow. "Did you forget when I said that I always get the secrets?"

Sander let out a groan, dropping her head onto the counter. There was a shuffling from the other end of the kitchen as someone walked in and Loki looked over. Tomas was stretching his arms over his head, hair ruffled into spikes from sleep. He blinked when he spotted the unfamiliar person in the kitchen, and Loki saw the gears turning as he brain tried to tell him that there was in fact a female he had never seen in the kitchen. Loki then saw the part of Tony that Tomas had inherited kick into place. Tomas had spotted a good looking female that, supposedly, wasn't his sister. Loki leaned back against the counter, all too happy to watch what happened next.

Tomas slid over, hand rubbing the back of the obviously distressed woman. "I know, sometimes dealing with my Dad can be a hassle. I don't believe we've had the opportunity to make each other's acquaintance."

"I think we can keep it that way," Sander muffled through her arm, keeping her head on the counter.

"Ouch, your words aim to maim." He moved and started to rub her shoulders. "I think that perhaps a hearty breakfast will help with whatever ails you, and I know of the best place in the state to go." Loki was taking slow breaths, making sure that he didn't smile or start laughing. His son needed to figure this out on his own.

"Oh god, are you seriously trying to pull moves on me?" Sander's head popped up. She rolled her shoulders to push his hands from his back before turning fully so Tomas could see her face, and the glow of the arc reactor on her chest.

Tomas blinked, his sleepy brain trying to catch up with the fact that not only had he been denied, but he knew the person who was turning him down. His eyes suddenly widened. "Oh my god! Sander?!" He tensed his shoulders a little and shivered. "I just tried to hit on my twin!" He started to walk away quickly.

"At least you haven't lost your sense of narcissism!" Sander called out after him and Loki let out a snort, biting his lip so that his laughter didn't get too loud.

"It's only because I look so good!" Tomas shot back before disappearing around the corner.

"Narcissus!" Sander shouted.

"Oh no," Loki said carefully trying to keep the laughter out of his voice. "The real Narcissus was much worse."

"I'm sure you enjoyed that," Sander grumbled, turning back to face Loki.

"I only wish that your father had been here to see it." Loki grinned.

"Here to see what?" Tony asked as he walked into the kitchen yawning, looking just like Tomas only a moment ago. Loki rolled his eyes but smiled. "Hey, we have a new house guest?" Sander straightened a little, the blue glow showing. "Oooooooh. Aw, Loki, he really does take after you, growing lady parts and all." Loki hit his shoulder as Sander groaned. "So, what's up Lady Sandy?" Sander was not amused.

"I was trying to get to that point myself before your other son came in here and attempting to take his twins out to a flattering breakfast." Loki smiled as Tony started to laugh. "I came in here to hear our darling daughter," Sander shot him a glare, "talking to some mysterious person on the phone."

"The mysterious Fay that Melisande brought up yesterday?" Tony's eyes lit up a little.

"I suddenly miss not living on my own," Sander mumbled.

"I'm wondering why you haven't changed back for this conversation," Tony threw in.

Sander wiggled her nose a little. "It uh, it's uncomfortable actually." Her hand unconsciously went up to tap the reactor. "I didn't know until I shifted a little bit ago, and I don't want to shift back just yet, I'm not a fan of the feeling. I hadn't actually thought about how this would affect things."

"Hopefully I have something that can help with that," Tony told him. "I'm synthesizing the element now for a replacement reactor, a new slim version." Sander nodded a little. "So, this leads us to believe that you've been doing this for a while?" Sander actually blushed a little.

"Why can no one in this family have a private social life?"

"You told your mystery person that your little sister was excited to meet them," Loki reminded her. "Obviously it's not very private if you've been telling Melisande about them."

"Melisande likes me enough to keep it a secret," Sander mumbled.

"Does Fay know that you gender swap? Or do they only know you as Lady Sander?" Tony had started to move around the kitchen, making some coffee.

"Let me just parse this down a little," Sander stood up straight. "You two aren't going to relent until this comes down to asking to meet Fay, are you?"

"I'm very happy that our children have learned," Loki said, looking at Tony. Tony just chuckled as he finished his coffee.


	27. Chapter 27

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

"Sooooo," Kaia let the word drag out as she smiled at Sander. They were sitting in the living room along with Tomas, Melisande and Loki. Melisande had burrowed between Saner and Kaia. Tony had dragged Nathan with him somewhere in the house, telling the others they weren't allowed to follow. "When is Fay going to show up?"

Sander, once again looking male, rolled his eyes. "If I had my way, never."

"Too bad you were discovered by Dad," Tomas threw in.

"You were trying to take me out," Sander shot over to his brother. Tomas shut his mout as Loki and Kaia snorted with laughter. Sander let out a little sigh. "I'm going to pick up Fay in a few hours." Melisande seemed to grin as she listened that she was going to finally going to meet Fay.

"So they know about your powers?" Kaia asked with interest. Sander just nodded. "I've noticed that you haven't told us if Fay is female or male." Sander hummed and nodded again. "You're really getting on my nerves with this." Sander smiled this time.

"Alright," Tony's voice called out. "I have two special, little, visitors, and one of them has been waiting to see his other Papa." Tony walked out, smiling, holding onto a four month old little boy. Nathan was walking behind him before managing to slip away and sit next to Kaia. Eindride walked in next, holding onto Key.

Loki's eyes lit up when he saw Cyrus in Tony's arms. He reached out to take the babe, planting little kisses on his cheeks. Cyrus giggled a little, wiggling happily in his arms. "Such an energetic one he is. You are a lucky one to have the mother you do. We tried with your father, we did."

"Hey!" Eindride let out a little pout, then looked down at Key. "As you get older, I hope you give them hell."

"Shush, child," Tony said as he sat next to Loki and their grandson. "I hope Cyrus gains his mother's fire abilities, and burns your clothes." Eindride's jaw dropped a little.

Loki smiled when Cryus let out a pleased laugh when green birds flew in front of his face. He reached out the for the birds as Loki created a few more. "Perhaps one day you will be able to do that. Where is your mother hm? Did she entrust you with your father's safety?"

"Tell your Papa that Mom is currently catching up on some sleep," Eindride supplied.

"And she left you on your own?" Kaia smirked at him. "With the life of a small boy as well, how brave." Nathan tried to hide his face in his wife's shirt, attempting to clock his laugh.

"You know, I am able to run a multi-billion dollar company" Eindride shot at his sister and brother-in-law. "I was able to do it while blind at one point as well."

"Are you comparing your child to Stark Industries?" Tomas raised his eyebrow with a smirk.

"SI was my baby at one point," Tony piped up. Six head turned to look at him. "At one point, and that was before I met your father."

"Of course," Loki smirked a little. "You have been born into a very interesting family," Loki said, still looking at his grandson.

"Alright, let me see him, I want to shower him with affection now." Tony was making grabby hands at his husband. "You can shower our newborn with love."

Loki couldn't argue as Tony took Cyrus from him, and Eindride put Key in his arms. Not that he would argue about it. "Hello, little Miss Aurora Keyri." Her eyes seemed to light up when he said her name. "You have had quite a journey getting to us. And I hear you've been talking to your older sister already, what a smart girl you're going to be, just like your siblings." Key let out a soft coo and reached her small hand out to grasp one of Loki's fingers.

"Dad almost looks harmless," Kaia commented as they watched Tony and Loki with the two youngest Starks. "One would find it hard to believe that he attempted to take over the Earth." Eindride, Tomas, and Sander looked at their sister, then over at Loki who was giving Key small smiles and kissing her fingers. "Did no one tell you?" Kaia and Nathan smirked.

"Make no mistake, I would raze this Realm if any harm ever came to her." Loki didn't look up as he spoke. The twins raised their eyebrows. "I am by no means on the side of heroes."

"Wait, you're evil?" Sander asked.

"You're a super villain?" Tomas elaborated.

"Not so much," Tony stepped in, sitting Cyrus in his lap. "He was, technically, but there were extenuating circumstances. Now he's just working towards his own selfish means." Tony smiled as he spoke.

"I think we're going to have to have story time when there are no little ears around," Tomas said, and Sander nodded.

"You'll have to be more specific about what story," Eindride told them. "There are stories about you two as well that are pretty interesting."

"Yeah, we need story time, definitely," Sander reiterated. "First about us, then about Dad being Evil."

"It seems that trouble follows them whenever they're about to have a baby," Nathan added, smirking a little and avoiding Tony and Loki's looks. "It's like every Stark has a birth story."

"Except for Emma," Kaia corrected her husband.

"Emma went through the triple wedding fiasco," Tony reminded. The twins raised their eyebrows even higher. Tony glanced over at Loki. "It's hard to decide who had it worse, sometimes. Except for that time when I was almost paralyzed. I definitely had it worse then." Loki snorted as Eindride winced in sympathy.

"Can we have story time when Fay comes?" Tony asked suddenly and Sander's eyes widened. "I think that would be a good test to see if they really want to date Sander."

"I'm going to make sure that no one ever wants to think about dating you." Tomas was only able to raise an eyebrow before Saner tackled him off of the couch.


	28. Chapter 28

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Tony quietly closed the door to Key's room, not so secretly pleased that he was able to put her in her own crib now. JARVIS was of course keeping a close eye on her, and Alex was with Chris and Mia, spending Tony's money. It was the absolute least he could do after they spent so much time saving their lives.

He found Loki waiting for him out in the hall, a slight smirk on his face. "Our son has arrived with Fay." Tony raised an eyebrow. "She's a lovely woman, at the moment."

"At the moment?" Tony was interested by the tone of Loki's voice. This was going to prove to be interesting.

"She's a shape-shifter herself." Tony raised both eyebrows now. "I'm unsure if she was born a she or he, but they showed up as a she."

"Is our son still our son?" Loki snorted a little, but nodded. "Oh, this is going to be fun. Both girls are down for their naps, and JARVIS is on baby sitting duty." Loki grinned and offered his arm to Tony. "So I'm the woman in the relationship now?"

"I can look the part." Loki smirked as his features changed.

"Oh, aren't you just so funny." Tony rolled his eyes as he took Loki's arm, giving it a quick pinch until he changed back to his husband.

Sander was leaning his head onto a shoulder when the two men walked in the living room. he was mumbling into the shoulder of a woman a couple of inches shorter than him. She had long hair curled at the ends, a dark red on top of blonde with a teal color underneath. Tomas was also in the room, a smirk on his face, which could explain why Sander was grumbling. The woman, Fay, was running her hand through the ends of his ponytail, a soft smile on her face.

"I'm glad to see that he was able to find someone else to take care of him again," Tony commented as they walked over. sander grumbled louder as Fay turned her head to look at them. "At least he was able to find someone good looking."

"Oh my god, Dad!" Sander's head shot up and Tomas started to laugh. Fay snorted and smiled.

"Coming from the great Tony Stark, that's a great compliment." Fay grinned at him and Tony fanned his face with his hand.

"Oh, mercy me," Tony drawled in an exaggerated southern accent. Loki let go of Tony's arm and pushed his shoulder. Tony put a hand across his forehead and let the motion take him towards the couch, appearing to swoon. Loki, Sander, and Tomas all rolled their eyes at Tony."

"You can be Scarlett, I'll be Rhett." Tony grinned up at Fay from the couch.

"Pander to my ego and you'll go far." Tony sat up and winked at her.

"Why did it take so long for you to introduce me again?" Fay turned to Sander, who just blinked. "So far there's nothing to be scared of."

"For you," Sander mumbled. "And this has only been the first five minutes."

"I must inquire, how long have you and our son been together?" Loki asked as he took a seat on the loveseat. Fay looked at Sander briefly before turning back to Loki.

"I know that look," Tony commented. "You are in trouble." Sander let out a puff of breath.

"We've been together for almost two years." Tony whistled.

"You are in a lot of trouble." Sander threw a glare at Tony. "Where do you live?"

"I have a job down in Jupiter, Florida. I'm the General Manager of a Resort and Spa on the ocean front." Tony nodded as Loki raised an interested eyebrow.

"Ooo, he snagged a smart one," Tomas commented. "Well, almost smart, she's still dating Sander." Sander grumbled into Fay's shirt again. "I'm sorry, what was that?" Sander grumbled again and Tomas's eyes widened. "You're joking right? Absolutely kidding, right?" Sander grunted. "Oh my god, you're crazy."

"What just happened?" Fay blinked, looking between the brothers.

"They've for this weird twin thing," Tony started to explain. "Although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in know what was just said though."

"Nothing too terribly important," Tomas said, rolling his eyes. "Your child is just crazy. Nothing new."

They could hear some socked feet sliding down the hall quickly as Nathan and Kaia came running in. "Oh good, we aren't late! Emma might show up, but Anders left with Cyrus, so he won't be here."

"How big id your family?" Fay asked the boys as Kaia and Nathan sat next to Tony, eagerly, on the couch.

"Too big," Nathan threw out. he grunted when Kaia elbowed his side. "Not enough girls for Tony."

"Daddy does love his little girls," Kaia grinned and Tony wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "He spoils us."

"There's enough girls now," Tom said, sitting next to Loki. "You out number up now, and that's just not right."

"Is it story rime yet?" Nathan asked, changing the subject.

"Story time?" Fay's blue eyes lit up. She pulled on Sander's arm, pushing him into a large armchair before plopping down into his lap. "I'm all ears. He owes me an explanation of why he missed our last two dates anyway." The Stark family watched as Sander instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist as she got comfortable. "shall we start from the beginning? He doesn't like to talk about his past, or his family unless it involves Melli."

Tony and Loki smirked a little. "Sander? Would you just like to continue raising Melisande?" Loki asked. "You two seem to have an unbreakable bond that seems to have gone beyond even that of what Kaia and Nathan had when they were young." Sander, Kaia, and Nathan all sent a scowl his way.

"Saner and Tomas are so much younger than any of us," Kaia cut in, stopping Loki from further thoughts. "You two are, what, 22 years younger than Anders? Or is it 23 years younger?"

"Coming from someone in their 60's," Sander tried not to react when Fay pinched his leg. They all saw him jump though. Nathan made a whipping noise before Kaia pinched his own leg.


	29. Chapter 29

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

The group had moved to crowing around the kitchen island as Tony and Loki started making dinner. For the most part they had let the kids fill Fay in on what had happened, with little interventions for the sake of accuracy. Tony knew that Melisande was going to be waking up soon, as well as Key. He glanced over at Fay and saw that her jaw had dropped just a bit as they finished telling her about the first Christmas after Anya and Kasir started ruling over Helheim.

"Everything that you've said happened before the twins were born?" Fay asked. Kaia and Nathan nodded. "Seriously? All that happened? To just one family?"

"We never claimed to be good fairing people," Tony threw in with a smirk. "I'm a trouble magnet on my own, and I just sort of married into a very magnetizing family.' He grinned as Loki shot him an exasperated look.

"I'm convinced that you have driven me thoroughly insane, and that is why I can not bring myself to leave you," Loki drolled out. He stopped messing with some plates when Tony wrapped his arms around his waist from behind and tried not to smile. They could hear the gagging sounds of some of the kids behind them. "These are just lowly tactics."

"But they work, and I'm okay with this." Tony grinned, his face against Loki's back for a second. Sander cleared his throat loudly and Tony laughed before pulling away. "Yeah, all that crazy stuff happened, before Tomas and Sander were born.

"These two didn't intrude in our lives until a little bit later." Fay turned her head at the new voice that walked into the room, and Sander groaned. He knew the voice, and lamented having another sibling enter the conversation. Glancing up he bit back another groan when he realized that Emma was still in her Jotun form. He'd be lucky if Fay didn't find it all just a little bit too weird. "We refer to those years as the Dark Times."

"We do?" Tony raised an eyebrow and glanced at Loki.

"Apparently our children do," Loki answered him. "Will our daughter or the Princess be joining us for dinner?" Emma smirked a little and let her paler skin bleed through. "Ah, Emma, darling, lovely to see you."

"I see we're in the middle of story time," Emma smiled in greeting.

"Fay, this is my other annoying older sister, Emma. Emma, this is my partner Fay," Sander made vague hand motions between the two women. "You've met, now don't you have some ice throne to sit on?" Fay nudged his leg but kept smiling at Emma. "See's actually a Princess of a frozen planet, I wasn't intentionally trying to be mean. For once."

"That might be the nicest thing you've said about me." Emma smiled sweetly at her little brother and Tomas snorted. "He's right though, so you don't have to beat him up too much for that comment."

"We just finished telling her about Anya and Kasir, and Anders finding out about his powers," Kaia supplied helpfully.

"So we're just getting to the good part?" She sat down next to her sister and grinned. "About the time we met two shy little boys who were too afraid to utter two words to anyone who wasn't their mother?"

"Shy?" Fay raised her eyebrows and looked over at Sander then back at Emma and Kaia. "Sander was shy?"

"They both were," Emma confirmed. "It took them at least 6 months to start talking to Daddy. Of course they didn't know that he was Dad at the time." This time Fay, and Tomas and Saner raised their eyebrows. "They didn't make their appearance until they were five. That was the year that dad gave them Runa and Viggi as presents."

"Yes, giving two toddler boys two very large dogs to raise, with a single mother," Loki said, looking at Tony. "Because she wouldn't have had her hands full with twin boys, you needed to throw in two Very Large dogs."

"Hey, I had a plan!" Tony defended, pointing a fork his way. "I had it all taken care of."

Tomas raised his hand, clearing his throat to interrupt them. "I'm sorry, say what? Single mother? I think the twins in question are a little confused." Tomas and Sander had never felt the urge to ask about what had happened when they were younger. They were pretty content as they grew up. Saner was wondering if there was a reason behind it now.

"If we didn't live here, who did we live with?" Saner asked, looking between his siblings and his parents. They could all feel the slight tension, and Sander really knew that something had happened.

"With Yvonne," Emma answered simply, but with no fondness in her tone. "Dad met you guys when you were still 3 years old, and he didn't know that he was Dad at the time. About the time that he started growing that awful hairstyle that you seem to have adopted from him." Tony made a noise and frowned, putting a hand on his head briefly.

Tomas and Sander glanced at each other, and he could feel Fay slip her hand into his, giving it a quick squeeze. "For strategic purpose that make sense to us now, Dad faked his death for five years." They saw Loki make himself busy with dinner again as Kaia continued explaining. "You lived with him, who was in disguise as a Yvonne at the time. From what Anders could gather, you didn't come back to this Realm until you were three."

Loki turned around and frowned a little, as Tony let out a small sigh. "He's the undisputed King of keeping his mouth shut when he doesn't need to." Tony looked over at Loki. "Are you really surprised that he didn't tell us that he saw all of that?"

"I wish I was," Loki muttered.

"That was when the Realms were on the verge of an almighty upheaval," Emma threw in, looking at Kaia. "Because that's when I went to Jotunheim."

"And after that was when they got sent to those alternate dimensions," Nathan added in. he had been sitting quietly for the most part, snacking on some pretzel sticks. "Tony and the twins, Loki and Gabby, Steve and Alex, and Chris and Anders. Luckily they did most of the foot work for us."

"Most of the foot work?" Tony looked at Nathan. "That's what you call it? Oh, you are so lucky that I have been oath-bound by your mothers to not pound you into the sand." Nathan smiled cheekily.

"Hey, if you hadn't of done it, then Anders wouldn't have gone blind, and then wouldn't have met Elpis, because he wouldn't have needed an assistant, then you two wouldn't have a grandson," Nathan said, waving his stick around a little. "All in all, it could have been worse."

While the others had been talking Sander had tuned out a little, leaning his side against the island as he processed the, little, information about when he and Tomas were younger. He felt a pair of warm hands start to rub his neck and he looked up to see that Fay had moved closer to him, facing him. "You okay?" He blinked a couple of times before nodding.

"Yeah, I'm good. I wish I could say that that was the weirdest thing I've encountered before." He gave her a smile and she kissed his nose. Her thumbs ran along the edge of his jaw line a little before her hands moved down. Sander winced a little when one of her hands found the arc reactor and stopped. He had tried covering it up with a thicker t-shirt that could block the light.

Fay frowned then grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted it up until she could see the reactor. Sander was suddenly aware that the kitchen had gone quiet again. His chest was still red and a little tender around the new reactor that Tony had finished for him before he had gone to pick up Fay. Fay turned her head and looked at Tony, who had stopped bothering trying to cover his reactor, then looked back at Sander's chest.

"Is this why you haven't shown up in the past few days?" She asked, frowning as her fingers gently traced the lines on the reactor.

"Kind of," Sander said quietly. He reached one hand up to take hers. "I died,..." he trailed off, not knowing how to continue. He swallowed and looked into Fay's wide eyes. "I was actually dead for two days."


	30. Chapter 30

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
**

******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
**

**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Fay slowly pushed Sander's shirt down over the reactor and looked at him. "You want to run that by me again? You died?"

Sander opened his mouth to try and respond, even if he didn't know what he was going to say, when someone else started talking. "He was trying to protect Key and Dad." Sander blinked and looked at Tomas when he spoke up. Tomas caught his eyes for a second. "And then when it happened he started to apologize to us. He took on the Creator of the Universe, and he apologized to us."

Sander put a hand on Fay's arm and they stood up. "Thanks, Tom. We'll be right back." The couple left the room and Tomas idly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, I think that that went better than expected." Kaia and Emma looked at Nathan when he spoke. "I don't hear any yelling yet, so that much be good."

"I think I've changed my mind," Tony said, looking at Kaia now. "I'm okay that you two don't have any kids.

Fay sat down on the couch first, watching Sander as he tried not to pace. He was nervous because he didn't know how something like this could end. "You'd feel more comfortable if you sit down," she told him. "You get more agitated when you keep moving around."

"I know, but it's hard," Sander puffed out. Letting out a breath he sat down next to her.

"We can shift if that'll help," she offered.

"It would, but I can't right now." He felt her hands take the strap out of his hair to let it fall loose. A slightly larger hand started to run through his hair, gently moving him to lay his head down in a lap. "It feels weird to shift right now. I have to get used to the arc in my chest, and how it feels with my magic."

"Do you want to talk about it?" A deeper voice asked him. "About the details at least. I'd still like to know the basics, cause that's a bit of shock to hear that your partner died, and was dead for a couple of days."

"Yeah," Sander said, relaxing against the larger hand of Fay. "I mean, I guess Tomas kind of glossed over the details of how it happened pretty well."

"He did defend you pretty fiercely." Fay pushed his hand under the collar of Sander's shirt, lightly rubbing around the reactor. Sander tried not to tense, but when Fay didn't stop he was able to slowly relax about the touch.

"I guess I was supposed to go to Valhalla, but Adir made a different decision. I guess I technically got this the same way that Dad got his, because those are just the kind of enemies this family makes." Fay snorted a little as he started to massage Sander's scalp. "Then there was a team effort between my parents to find me, and then the Norns were able to bring me back."

"If they hadn't of been able to bring you back, would I have had to find out in the papers about you dieing?" Fay asked, and Sander frowned a little.

"Well, it would be funny to see the reaction of my family when you would have told them that we were together." He grunted a little when Fay pinched a bit of his neck. "I would have asked for a favor, and I would have been well within my rights to get it with the way that I died."

"I guess I feel special knowing that you would have used a favor on me." Sander smiled a little, hearing the smirk in Fay's voice. He was about to say something else when he heard some small shuffling coming down the hallway. Sitting up a little he looked over and saw Melisande coming towards them, her hand dragging her stuffed fox in one hand.

The little girl looked up and saw her brother and grinned. "San!" She started to hopped a little before hurrying over to him. It seemed she hadn't noticed Fay yet as San picked her up when she got close.

"Hey munchkin. Have a good nap?" She nodded as she leaned against his chest a little, wiping at her eyes, clearly having just woken up. "I've got a treat for you. There's gonna be a guest for dinner tonight." Melisande blinked then looked over and saw Fay, smiling gently at her. "This is Fay, munchkin."

Her eyes widened a little and she turned to face Fay. "You're Fay?" She asked, a certain hint of awe in her voice at finally being able to meet her brothers bestest friend. "I'm Melli." She grinned, puffing her chest up a little. "I'm San's sister. We have a smaller sister now, and her name is Key." Sander couldn't help but smile as she instantly started babbling to Fay. "Can I sit next to you at dinner? San and I like to cook together, but not today. He got Daddy's night light, so he got tired."

"Melli," San put a hand over her mouth, chuckling. "You have to wait for someone to answer your question before you keep asking them." He yelped and pulled his hand back when Melisande licked his palm. She giggled and grinned.

"Sir, Miss Key is waking up from her nap," JARVIS informed them and fay blinked a little, not having encountered the AI before.

"Thanks Jay, we'll go get her." Sander picked up Melisande and set her on her feet. "Wanna go introduce Key to Fay?" Her eyes lit up as she nodded. Melli reached out and took Fay's hand as they headed down the hall.

"She told me her name," Melisande told the taller Fay. "When she was still in Daddy's stomach, but we call her Key."

"She must have thought that you were special to tell you her name first," Fay told the excited little girl as they followed Sander. "And I would be honored to have you sir next to me at dinner." Melisande grinned up at him. "How about you sit between Sander and I? That way we can both sit next to you."

"Watch out, you'll spoil her," Sander chuckled as he opened the door to Key's new room. He walked over to the crib and looked down to see her eyes were open and aware. She gurgled some bubbles with her lips as Sander picked her up, her hand wrapped around one of his fingers when she was settled in his arms.

Fay looked over at him and smiled at the sight. When Sander looked her his smile turned to a leer and Sander snorted. "You look good holding a baby."

"Not before dinner Fay, we don't have time." Melisande blinked looking between them. She had seen her Dads give each other the same look and smiled a little.

"You two are in love." The two men blinked and looked down at Melisande who was grinning now. "You two have the same looks as Dad and daddy, and they tell me it's cause they love each other. Are you two gonna marry?" Fay leaned down in front of her, smiling a little, and put a finger to her mouth, and she gave a muffled squeal, hopping up and down. The two men chuckled and smiled.


	31. Chapter 31

**A****/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)  
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******So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com  
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**I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.**

* * *

Fay pushed her apartment door open with her foot, keys hanging from her mouth, plastic bags in her hands. She hopped in a little and lifted her foot to hit the light switch as the door swung shut. Turning to walk through the living room she shrieked and dropped the bags and keys when she saw someone sitting on her couch. She let out a huff and glared as the person just smirked, a very familiar smirk that she'd seen on her partner many times before. "Mr Stark, may I inquire as to why you are in my apartment? I feel it would be foolish to ask how you found out where I live, even though I know Sander didn't tell you."

"Yeah, that would just be a silly question," Tony agreed, arms stretched out on the back of the couch, ankle resting on his knee. "As to why I'm here? Well, I just don't feel like we know each other that well, what with you dating my son, sometimes other daughter." Fay just raised an eyebrow at him before picking up her keys, dropping them in a little bowl on the table by the door, then picking up her dropped groceries.

"I was just over for dinner a week ago," she informed him as she walked past him, towards the kitchen. Tony reluctantly pushed himself up to follow her. "It's not like you won't be seeing me again, I'm sure."

"Oh, you can be sure of that. We're a big family," Tony agreed, taking a seat in one of the chairs at the small dining table. "But, I wanted to get to know you without my other children around."

"Speaking of, I'm surprised that you left the girls, and that Sander let you come over here alone." She had set the bags on the counter and was starting to take stuff out when she looked over at him. "He doesn't know you've come does he?" Tony just smirked.

"Are you mad at me Rhett?" Tony asked in an exaggerated southern accent.

"I could never stay mad at you Scarlett," Fay said and tried not to smile.

"As for the girls, there is a three hour time difference between here and Malibu, and Loki is happily spending nap time with the girls," Tony told her. "I just have a few questions, nothing too personally invasive."

"Can I make you something while we talk? Some coffee perhaps?" Fay offered, holding up a mug. She moved to the coffee machine, grabbing a second mug, when Tony nodded. "Glad to know I'm not the only one that drinks coffee all through the day."

"I had to give up coffee for almost five months recently, I miss my dear friend." Tony leaned back in the chair a little. "So, almost two years with Sander?" She nodded a little. "You see some long term plans with him?"

"Is this you having the talk?" She raised an eyebrow at him as the coffee pot started to fill up. "You can't clean the gun on the couch when I come for the first date, so you find me at home?"

"You can bet I'll be working on the Suit when the girls start to date," Tony told her. "I can't be interested in the future of one of my children?" Fay raised an eyebrow briefly before turning back to fill the two mugs with coffee. "Also, thank you," he took a long sip from the mug, "Melli may have been talking recently about you two being in love."

"Hmm, the little spitfire that she is," Fay said, smiling softly. "Well, she may be right about that. We haven't exactly talked about anything long time, plan wise, though. I know he's almost done with school, wants to be a Vet, what with his small menagerie."

"And what about you?" Tony asked with interest. "What do you want to do? Is it to stay the General Manager of a resort?" She shrugged a little and leaned against the counter, drinking from her own mug.

"For now. I'm pretty happy where I am, but I'm not sure if it's where I'd like to stay." Tony watched her as she thought about it. "I like the business, that's for sure, but there are some changes I'd make if I was making the big choices."

"Sounds like you'd actually like to own and run your own place?" Tony raised an eyebrow slightly.

"It's on my list, that's for sure," she nodded. "I don't think I'd have it here though, or even in California, where most of them seem to be. I'd like to have one where there are hot springs, by some mountains."

"For something that's on your list, you seem to have thought a lot about this." Tony chuckled a little. There was a light buzzing noise and Tony pulled his phone out of his pocket. He took one last drink from the mug, emptying it, and stood up. "The coffee was very good, the talk was very nice, but it seems that my time is actually up. I have to get back to the kidlets."

"You come and drink my coffee then leave, that's how it is?" Day asked as she took Tony's mug.

"Yes," Tony nodded and smiled. "I'm Tony Stark, and your possible future in-law." She snorted but smiled at him. 

* * *

Tony quietly slipped into the bedroom and smiled when he saw Melli wrapped up in a blanket cocoon, tucked into Loki's chest, Key still asleep in her bassinet next to the bed. Loki had one arm wrapped around Melli as he opened one eye to look at Tony.

"Was it a good talk?" Loki asked in a semi-sleepy voice. Tony carefully slide onto the bed, facing Loki, with their daughter between them.

"Fay is ambitious, that's for sure," Tony answered quietly do they didn't wake either of the girls up. "A good ambitious. She has her own plans she'd like to do, but still thinks about what Sander would like to do with his life as well. I think they'll be able to balance it out."

"You already have a plan, don't you?" Loki asked, letting his eyes slip shut again.

"There are some wheels turning." Tony smirked a little and Loki snorted. He ran his hand through Melli's hair as Loki went back to sleep. "I'm just wondering who's going to be wearing the dress at the wedding." He bit back his laughter when Loki kicked his leg.


End file.
